why i'm quitting facebook - cnn

7/29/2019 Why I'm Quitting Facebook - CNN

1/8

Home Video World U.S. Africa Asia Europe Latin America Middle East Business World Sport Entertainment Tech Travel iRepo

Douglas Rushkoff says a loss of control over how his "likes" are used has led him to drop Facebook.

Editor's note: Editor's note: Douglas Rushkoffwrites a regular

Part of complete coverage on

Opinion on the news

By Douglas Rushkoff, CNNFebruary 25, 2013 -- Updated 1502 GMT (2302 HKT)

EDITION: INTERNATIONAL U.S. MXICO ARABIC

TV: CNNi CNN en Espaol

Set edition preference

Sign up

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Raymond Fisman says CEOMarissa Mayer may beextreme about orderingface-time at the office, but it'sthe right call to revive Yahoo.

CEO right: Yahoo workers must showupFebruary 26, 2013 -- Updated 2027 GMT (0427 HKT)

Penda Hair and BenjaminJealous say that when heSupreme Court hearsarguments on a key provisionof the landmark Voting Rights

Act of 1965, it will be weighingthe fate of free, fair elections.

Don't gut the Voting Rights ActFebruary 26, 2013 -- Updated 1212 GMT (2012 HKT)

Benedict a pope aware of his flaws

Tweet

1,385 71

Print Email

270

ShareShare

More sh


2/8


3/8


4/8

converted into "sponsored stories" by whatever business or brand

we may have mentioned. That innocent mention of cup of coffee at

Starbucks, in the Facebook universe, quickly becomes an attributed

endorsement of their brand. Remember, the only way to connect with

something or someone is to "like" them. This means if you want to

find out what a politician or company you don't like is up to, you still

have to endorse them publicly.

More recently, users -- particularly those with larger sets of

friends, followers and likes -- learned that their updates

were no longer reaching all of the people who had signed

up to get them. Now, we are supposed to pay to "promote"

our posts to our friends and, if we pay even more, to theirfriends.

Yes, Facebook is entitled to be paid for promoting us and

our interests -- but this wasn't the deal going in, particularly

not for companies who paid Facebook for extra followers

in the first place. Neither should users who "friend" my

page automatically become the passive conduits for any of

my messages to all their friends just because I paid for it.

That brings me to Facebook's most recent shift, and the

one that pushed me over the edge.

Through a new variation of the Sponsored Stories feature

called Related Posts, users who "like" something can be

unwittingly associated with pretty much anything anadvertiser pays for. Like e-mail spam with a spoofed

identity, the Related Post shows up in a newsfeed right

under the user's name and picture. If you like me, you can

be shown implicitly recommending me or something I like -- something

you've never heard of -- to others without your consent.

For now, as long as I don't like anything myself, I have some

measure of control over what those who follow me receive in my

How safe is hot air ballooning?

Boy scares off lions with flashy invention

Most PopularToday's five most popular stories

Douglas Rushkoff says thesocial networking site used tobe useful to him, but has losthis trust with a feature thatmisrepresents his "likes"without his consent.

Howard Kurtz says the presshas had a role in advancingsame-sex marriage, simply bycovering the issue. It must becareful not to slip intoadvocacy or bias.

Media walk tricky line on same-sexmarriageFebruary 25, 2013 -- Updated 1225 GMT (2025 HKT)

The retired astronaut andhusband of Gabrielle Giffordssays the millions who havefailed gun background checkscan buy guns at gun shows oronline.

Mark Kelly: Gun loophole makes no

senseFebruary 22, 2013 -- Updated 2047 GMT (0447 HKT)


5/8

1300Comments

Tweet

1,385 710 PrintEmail

We recommendFrom around the web

name or, worse, are made to appear to be endorsing, themselves.

But I feel that control slipping away, and cannot remain part of a

system where liking me or my work can be used against you.

The promotional leverage that Facebook affords me is not worth the

price. Besides, how can I ask you to like me, when I myself must

refuse to like you or anything else?

I have always appreciated that agreeing to become publicly linked to

me and my work online involves trust. It is a trust I value, but -- as it

is dependent on the good graces of Facebook -- it is a trust I can live

up to only by unfriending this particularly anti-social social network.

Maybe in doing so I 'll help people remember that Facebook is not the

Internet. It's just one website, and it comes with a price.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Douglas Rushkoff.

Why I'm quitting Facebook

Django, in chains

Only 14, Bangladeshi girl charged with adultery

was lashed to death

What's this?

More from CNN Video:

From Around the Web

270

ShareShare More sharing

Mom: I want the worst

punishment for him

Meteor fragment leaves hugehole in lake

Women harass pregnant seals

Obama tees off with TigerWoods


6/8

Why traditional dating is dead

What my son taught me about Oscar Pistorius

Did rehab fail McCready?

What cruise lines don't want you to know

On cuts, Washington throws a tantrumThe new story of the death of Osama bin Laden

Quitting Facebook? Pew Poll Shows Why(redOrbit)

If You Have Gmail... You Must Have This (BusinessInsider)

Israeli Intelligence Sanitized Zygiers Cell AfterHanging, Family Demands Millions in Damages

(Richard Silverstein)How to get a Facebook Page viral in 3 days ! (GentleNinja)

Les Miz Meets Gangnam Style, and YouTubeCheers (The New York Times)

Three kinds of people youll meet through PinterestsNews Tab (Curalate Insights)


7/8

1309 comments

Discussion Community #Share

Reply

Clark 2 days ago

Good for him. Doesn't anyone get tired of seeing people walking around staring at

their i-phones, i-pods, etc?419 3

Reply

PeakSeason11 a day ago> Clark

I remember when I quit Facebook and I had two co-workers come up to me

a week later, visibly upset, and ask me why I removed them from Friends. They both

thought that I was mad at them in real life, which I found hilarious. When an online

social network can alter your mood towards someone, I think it's time to take a step

back and get back into the real world. There are other options outside of Facebook

to keep in touch with people, but I'm starting to believe some people don't

understand that. I 've literally had people STOP talking to me because I quit

Facebook, and they all know how to contact me via phone or text.

157

ow lafaye a day ago> PeakSeason11

I had family members that wouldn't correspond with me in ANY manner

except Facebook. I haven't heard from some of them in over a year. A

consequence is that they have all been put on notice that I have no intentions

of ever contacting them again...This Facebook thing is completely out of

control. We have become a country of severely dumbed down people, devoid

of critical thought, self identity and general awareness as to what is really

going on around them and being done to them.

34

Share

Share

why i'm quitting facebook - cnn

Documents