For Six Months, Let's Force Civilization on Facebook

We could all shake up Facebook - and maybe even derail it entirely - by quitting it. And Facebook needs a shakeup - a drastic shakeup. Facebook created algorithms that have amplified hate and misinformation. People are seeing an onslaught of misinformation about vaccines, about COVID-19, about nutrition, about elections and more BY DESIGN. 

But many of us stay in contact with friends and family through Facebook. We know about people moving, changing jobs, births, deaths and more because we follow our friends on Facebook. That's essential info. And until a better social media platform comes along, we're just not going to switch back to email. 

So I want to challenge you to commit, for six months, to making Facebook a better place. It doesn't mean not posting opinions or debating. Not at all. It means making this commitment:

For the next six months, I will work to increase the amount of positive and/or real, first-person content on Facebook, in order to disempower the negative elements on the platform. I will not be less politically active or avoid posts about things I am angry about, but I will counter that with content that’s uplifting to both myself and my friends and colleagues. For the next six months, I will help make the platform of value to ME, personally, regardless of what its owners and “sponsored content” might do.

For the next six months, I will post:

• photos of myself having a nice time, whether that’s in a beautiful exotic place or my backyard.
• photos I took myself of sunrises, sunsets, and skies and weather I find interesting or beautiful.
• recipes I have actually tried and liked, and I will comment about when I tried them and why I liked them.
• dates and information for events happening in my community I want others to know about, from a high school band concert to a farmer’s market to a yard sale.
• funny or insightful things my family or neighbors have said (not memes).
• photos of my own pets, or photos I have taken of other people’s pets.
• anything I’m proud of in my life, whether it’s learning to play something on a piano or not forgetting to put the trash out.
• about a class I’m taking.
• about a book I’m reading.
• about a TV show I’m watching.
• about a movie I enjoy.
• about an album I’m enjoying.
• about a memory that has made me smile (not a meme).
• dates to help people in my community be more civilly engaged: deadline for registering to vote, how to find out if you are registered to vote, date of upcoming school board meeting, date of upcoming city.
• council meeting, date of a candidates’ forum/debate.
• photos from around my neighborhood.
• anything that celebrates one of my own family members or neighbors or friends.
• news about my new home, my new job, my new project, whatever.
• questions I think my friends can help answer.
• anything I’m grateful for.
• how much I’m looking forward to any sporting event, movie, vacation, whatever.
• my broken TV, my plate that I just broke on the floor, a flat tire, whatever, with a comment about how I’m dealing with it, or how annoying it is.
• a photo of my new shoes.
• a photo of the old, worn hiking boots I’m throwing out and a comment about all the places they’ve been.
• the ridiculously long line you are dealing with in the course of your day.
• apologies for anything I posted that turned out not to be true.

That will make Facebook a place where regular humans are creating most of the content that we see - not algorithms, not AIs, not some big marketing firm. 

I am also going to keep posting those things which some brand as "negative." Those are part of who I am. Those are part of meaningful social discourse.  I will post the following "negative" things if I want to, however, I will post much more of the aforementioned group of topics than this:

• memes that make me laugh or think.
• memes that make me laugh or think.
• my own political opinions.
• special offers from businesses I support (free drink with the purchase of a hamburger!).
• things I’m angry about.
• things I’m sad about.
• things I am scared about.
• things I think are dangerous.
• things I don’t like.
• jokes.
• sarcastic observations.
• criticisms.  

I will NEVER post:

• something I claim is mine but is actually the work of someone else.
• unverified news. 
• unverified quotes.
• something that gives me a strong emotional response as I read it UNLESS I have made absolutely sure it's true and, after doing so, I believe it's something people need to read too. 
• results from any online quiz that isn’t a quiz by a verified news organization, a nonprofit organization, a research institute, etc. (“Here’s what color my name represents…”
• answers to questions on pages that are not my friends that ask questions like, “What food do you hate at Thanksgiving every year” or “What was the name of your childhood sweetheart.”

Ready to make the commitment?