Today I finally did the unthinkable; I deleted my Facebook account. Over the years I had heard of other friends who had walked away from Facebook, but I always thought that we needed the exposure, the world market, that Facebook claimed it could deliver. Finally, after being on the network for seven years, I decided to call it quits myself.
Why? Lets just say that Steemit has opened my eyes. I got tired of being a content creator for free. I got tired of doing my best to make other people wealthy (under the guise of promoting my own brand) and being ignored for it. And I got tired of being told I could promote my business on Facebook for a fee when I knew good and well my posts were being suppressed purposely by Facebook algorithm. When I first started up with Facebook, I loved the platform. I was able to connect with people from all over the world with no problems and built up a very good following. It was easy to connect with people and get likes and comments. But then as Facebook began to grow and expand I noticed my posts got less and less attention. Towards the end I was down to 5 main people who interacted with me on a regular basis. I also noticed my computer acted slower and slower when I connected to Facebook; as if the site had become malware for my computer. Still I thought that I could once again make Facebook work for me like it had once before without paying to boost my posts or advertise. I found myself spending several hours a day trying to network, and getting few positive results.
Instead what I found is that I was being constantly distracted by Facebook Drama Queens and tailored "Trends" that were more fluff than news. Who cares if Justin Beiber gets a pimple on his butt or has been pulled over for drunk driving? Plus the added distractions of quiz's and polls designed to suck in the unsuspecting user. I found that valuable time I could have spent working on my other blogs or updating websites instead went into taking surveys designed to tell me what my 1960's Hippy Name would be and how up to date my Star Trek knowledge was. I finally had to admit that Facebook had become like a drug; one I had to quit cold turkey.
Steemit has really opened my mind and my eyes this past week. Before I thought the idea of being paid to blog and comment was fantasy. Now I see from first hand experience it is all true. And I love the business model I find here on Steemit. One in which people work with other people, post quality content, and get paid for their efforts. My first week on Steemit has not been spectacular. But, it beats what I got paid in 7 years on Facebook and I know it will improve. And here there are few distractions. No "Click LIKE to Help Pogo The Dog," when in reality there is no Pogo The Dog, just some scammer fishing for likes. I am sure over time I will find some things I dislike about Steemit, but so far I see it as infinitely better than the forum I just left behind.
As you can probably guess by now, I am planning on spending a lot more time on Steemit...as well as working on my other neglected blogs and updating websites. Plus I plan to keep my Twitter account active until I see if Steemit will be successful in building a rival to that platform as well. But for me the old paradigm of working other peoples sites for free to make an elite group prosperous while the common person in the trench is ignored is no longer viable. I can no longer in good faith cooperate with such a system. And so, it is with a very real sense of liberation that I bid farewell to Facebook. And, if any of my old Facebook friends are reading this right now, all I have to say is come on over to Steemit. And, the last one to leave Facebook land be sure to turn out the lights!