There are multiple reasons, both personal and professional, why I made the decision to move away from Facebook. The Pros have kept me around far longer than expected. I enjoy seeing people and their families and celebrating their wins as well as supporting them through the challenges. Unfortunately, I came to the point where the Cons have overshadowed the benefits.
Personal Reasoning
It is a time-suck. Countless hours are wasted on mindlessly scrolling looking for friends’ posts. The number of friend’s posts that actually make it to my timeline is tiny. Facebook decided more important sponsored pages and advertisements are posted every fourth post. So, the timeline has become a running billboard.
Second, the world is insane. Social media seems to be at the epicenter of that insanity. My mental health couldn’t handle the ugliness and lack of humanity that exists. Friends are attacking friends. Family is disowning family. People are celebrating or calling for the harming of others. What is wrong with folks???
You may say, “well, that’s a reflection of the people you know and groups and pages you follow.” I would agree that is partially true. I “cleaned” my profile up to follow the “lovers” rather than the “haters”. I left the agitator pages and groups that did not add value. Somehow, I was still seeing an overwhelming presence of negativity. Negative posts were not from my preferred friends, groups, or pages, but by other sources that Facebook seemed to think I should see (que the advertisements). The all-knowing algorithm seems to think it knows what is best for me.
Thanks Facebook! I almost had my own independent thought, but you saved me. (I just strained my eyes from the biggest eyeroll ever.)
Professional Reasoning
Anyone working a business online knows that Facebook is a great way to connect with the millions of users every day. Unfortunately, it really is not friendly to promoting business. If you do not fall into the algorithm’s set criteria, your page or group is buried. Even if you have followers, Facebook will not necessarily show your content to them unless you can keep up with what they think is “valuable” content. Facebook decides for users what is useful information and information that they think you care about. Business owners are constantly trying to keep up with the changes to the algorithm’s criteria, which takes away from the actual business.
Another blatantly obvious reason to move away from Facebook, is that you do not own your account. You do not own or even control your “storefront” on Facebook, and it can be hidden by the algorithm or even deleted. All the content that people have spent precious time to create can be gone in an instant. The alternative is purchasing a website domain, which is essentially buying your own “storefront” on the web. You control it.
The final reason I decided to move my business to my own website is that it is more professional. Think about it, are you more likely to take a business more seriously if they have a dedicated website? I am not knocking people that are solely on social media. I think it works for many. I just feel that to take my business to the next level, it is time to up my game. Not everyone is on social media. Having a website that can add value and an avenue to my products that can be used by everyone is one more service I can provide my customers.
The Exciting Future
Due to my FB account being flagged, I have minimized my interaction and archived private groups. I still have my account, but it’s used only for training and communication associated with business. It was hard to unfriend everyone that wasn’t related to my business, but people can still search for me and there are instructions on how to connect.
If family and friends want to catch up with what I am doing these days, they are directed to this website and email. If customers are interested in purchasing or signing up, they are directed to my website and email. Keeping a limited presence allows me to keep business related connections that I do not want to leave behind.
My time is valuable. Making the decision to focus on a platform that I control, rather than three Facebook pages, saves time and allows me to focus on one quality outlet. The saying “work smarter, not harder” is one of my favorites. Facebook feels like a massive (dysfunctional) family reunion where you can’t really have a substantial conversation because we are all going in different directions, or you can’t hear over the “loud uncle”. My website is where we can move those potential conversations into a “private home” where we can sit and enjoy each other’s company without interruption.
It will be slow transitioning everyone to the new platform, and I know I’ll lose some people in the shuffle. It is something I’ve accepted. Anyone making the same move from social media will need to make peace with that loss. This isn’t about having the most friends or followers. This is about quality interactions.