Meta-Free!

Today, after taking back all my information from them, I deleted my Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and Threads accounts. I am Meta-Free!

I’ve been almost out the door of Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Messenger for the past few months. I’ve only participated enough to mostly wish friends a Happy Birthday, share our Wandering Wetheringtons blog posts or “like” my wife’s posts. But now that Zuckerberg and Meta are not only encouraging hate speech (allowing gay and trans people to be referred to as being mentally ill or referring to immigrants as trash) on Facebook without any official refuting, fact-checking or removal, as well as opening the platforms to Neo_Nazis so as to promote their version of toxic masculinity, I feel I must leave all Meta products.

I just cannot support that level of evil any longer by actively participating or even being counted as among its members. I left Twitter (before it became X) when Musk took over and began opening the doors to the same type of crap and can see no reason why I should react any differently to Zuck’s/Meta’s actions (or lack of them).

These billionaire tech bro oligarchs are just not my kind of people and I have no desire to keep giving them my data for their marketing to make more money.

So, today I deleted my Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and Threads accounts. I am Meta-Free!

It was not a fast or easy decision. It is one I have struggled with over the past few months. Over the years, Facebook has made it easy to stay in touch with far-flung family, friends and former co-workers and I will miss that ability.

But moving forward I feel like I will confine my “social media” participation to the blogs I own:

This, my Personal Blog

My Writing and Book Review Blog – The Word of Jeff

Our Travel Blog – The Wandering Wetheringtons

as well as Mastodon and Bluesky, where I have become part of nice communities.

If you wish to keep up with my “shouting into the abyss” you will find me at those corners of the vast Interwebs. I hope to see you here and there.

We all must do what we must for own conscience, as well as our own mental and emotional well-being.

Your mileage may vary, but Zuck’s/Meta’s products are no longer conducive to such for me, and so I must go to be Meta-Free!