Surface Ripples

How I Will No Longer Use Facebook

How many of us have “that friend” (or “those friends”) who post everything they do, remember, feel, eat or experience on Facebook?

I have a few.  I love seeing what they’re getting up to if they have something newsworthy to say.  I have difficulty in believing that my Facebook contacts care that I am “eating lunch” at (name of restaurant).  Equally, I doubt they’re interested in the fact that I’m at (name the place) with no further information to go on.  I also suspect they’re not particularly interested in what I’m having to eat/drink.

I once saw a meme stating “believe it or not you can do things without posting them for everyone to see on Facebook!” How true!

I follow three simple rules when posting on Facebook:

• It must be interesting/informative OR
• It must be inspiring/thought-proviking OR 
• It must be amusing

I wonder how “interesting” people find it that I am having a pint of beer (guilty as charged!).  To put this in context, I live and work in a “dry” country, so for me being able to order a pint is a treat (and my contacts would understand that).

There’s enough “clutter” out there on Facebook, some of it best described as “completely moronic”, without us adding to it.  As one wag once put it, “We used to have village idiots; now with the internet they’ve gone global!”  I would rather not be numbered among the idiots…

So from now on, I shall regale my Facebook contacts with only interesting, informative, thought-provoking or amusing posts.  It means that I won’t “share memories” as is the wont of many of my contacts.  To me doing this seems nothing more than a desperate craving for attention (or should that be “like” emojis?).

Something else worth mentioning is that, when we meet somebody new or interview for jobs, people check us out on social media. I only use Facebook and LinkedIn but there are others who use these two along with Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, X and whatever else is out there. Not only does this make for a minefield to manage, it also means that it’s too easy to post something “contentious” and forget that it’s there.  With more and more use being made of social media postings to pillory others, this strikes me as a fairly sensible move.

Do you have your own personal rules as to what you post and where?

I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website  provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  

Labels: Career, Leisure, Social

posted by William Martin @ 11:16