This past week for the fifty-eleventh time the internet went into a crybaby fit about the world's largest and most distrusted social media platform, Facebook. The uproar this time is over the banning of what the platforms considers to be far-right extremists from Alex Jones of Infowars, Milo Yiannopoulos, Laura Loomer, and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. According to a company spokesperson, the accounts of these individuals were removed due to content which violates Facebook's policies under their terms of service against dangerous individuals and organizations. https://ezinearticles.com/?Heres-Why-Everyone-Should-Stop-Whining-About-Facebook&id=10116285
The irony of this is that Facebook had previously taken partial action against Alex Jones and Infowars, but he managed to find a home on Facebook's sister platform Instagram, where he garnered hundreds of thousands of followers within days, making the platform fertile ground for his followers to continue engaging his works. Once the news went viral about Facebook's latest upset, users got angry and spoke out against what is now being called censorship and an outright violation of First Amendment Rights. The online outrage is noticeably drenched in fear rather than personal values and the policies and actions of Facebook have diverged to the point where people are no longer comfortable.
As the band played on, the social media user chorus sang the same old tune, "I'm going to delete my account and this time, I mean it!"
But did anyone really mean this time it or is this just another idle threat?
Facebook has already faced a ton of scrutiny over the past year over how it handled the private information of at least 50 million users. Regulators and lawmakers quickly seized on the breach to renew calls for more oversight and while the scandal sent many users running scared with threats of deleting their account. Many surveys show that only 1 in 10 people have actually gone through with it. I've had my share of complaints about the platform, most notably about its algorithm and misinformation. And, although the app no longer sits on the face of my smartphone, I'm still listed as an active user.
Here's what we must understand: Social media network platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are for-profit private business entities. Being a user is a privilege--not a right. We are whining about the protection of free expression on an internet where thousands of other platforms exist in the very same marketplace. We are asking the government to assist with content control over an entity that we use for self-serving reasons when their help isn't needed at all for this one. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of anyone being able to limit how we express ourselves or suppression of free speech. But, I am also fully aware of the fact that I don't have to have an account on Facebook or any other social media platform and can delete it at anytime. So can the rest of the world.
The value of a social media network is rested on its make up of people and not necessarily the information that gets posted there. The people are the network. We are the value. We hold the power. There are literally thousands of destinations across the internet where we can connect with people and have conversations. There are a ton of social networks with great features that have no community. But, for whatever the reasons so many people still choose Facebook. One of the greatest things about the cyber world is that it ushered in a revolution in terms of communication capabilities.
A society that claims to care so much about the protection of free expression needs to make a decision once and for all that the time has come to take control by finally leaving the worldwide web's most abusive husband and moving on to a new relationship with another platform. But, if we aren't going to do this then we really should stop complaining about it.
Faye Bishop is a Philadelphia native, Real Estate entrepreneur, Mommy, Writer, Foodie & Philosopher of Self-Determination. To read more articles like this one about small business interests, marketing and lifestyle tips visit http://www.fayebishop.com You can also check out The Faye Bishop Report on YouTube at https://t.co/nVUVVUCqz1
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Faye_Bishop/306146
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10116285
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