Privacy and Social Media

Facebook’s stock price, close of business at time of writing.

Have you ever done a count of the social media platforms that you’ve subscribed to? I did, just recently, when setting up the new blog page. At first I was quite excited, figuring out a way to give everyone a chance to link to me here and connect with me there, because that’s what the social networks are for, right? I was ultimately astounded, not just at the number of networks that I belong to, but also the number that are out there that either I don’t use, the number that I’ve signed up for and don’t use, and the number that I’ve never used and tend to ignore (looking hard at you, Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest). Not only that, each of these “services” are free – gratis, nada, bupkis. They of course provide us with their quite complex functions out of the goodness of their little hearts. Really, they’re not for profit, right?

We all use social media daily. During the COVID-19 pandemic, usage has increased, as it’s the way many of us stay in touch. Since sometime in 2016 we all started paying attention to the tweets of the Twitterer-in-Chief, and now they are reported on like breaking news stories. To that, all I can say is covfefe. However, I don’t think that there is a single one of us that don’t use social media on a daily, or at least weekly, basis. It is, as they say, part of the “fabric of our lives” – oh, wait, cotton stole that phrase.

Whether we like it or not (I’m ambivalent, and use social media as I see fit but admit most of it serves little purpose), the various networks have bored their way into our routines like a boll weevil on a cotton flower – unlike anything we could have imagined when we first logged into Facebook 13 or so years ago. We communicate through them, we push data to them, and we find validation through them – we like to be liked, after all. Something else most of us like is lists, so I’ll lay out a couple of lists based on my social media habits, just to get some talking points out there.

Traditional Social Media

  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Facebook
  • Skype
I do not have / never subscribed to:
  • Google Plus
  • Instagram
  • Snapchat
  • Vine
  • TickTock
  • Pinterest

Messaging social media

I have subscribed to, but never really used:

  • Whatsapp
  • Kik

Focused Social Media

  • Fitbit
  • Endomondo
  • MapMyRun
  • MyFitnessPal
  • Garmin Connect
  • Suunot Movescount
  • Strava
  • Untapped (beer!)

Forums

I have joined and participated in untold numbers of forums over the years. Fortunately, these are both:

  1. mostly very private, and
  2. so hyper focused that they attract a like-minded group.

Think motorcycles, photography, cars, and other nice things. Yes, they have been clobbered by Facebook Groups (which are an unregulated dumpster fire), but this has made their appeal sharper for me in some cases.

Tracy Le Blanc at Pexels

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Insurance is my profession, and one of my passions. Motorcyclist, runner, skier, photography newbie. Nerdy tech geek, craft beer enthusiast. Thoughts are my own. Snark is omni-present.

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