Facebook Felt Like A Digital Junior High School: Why I Never Logged On

I’m an outlier. LinkTree reminded me of that a few minutes ago. But I don’t mind.

I opened an account and linked this website, my LinkedIn profile, Bluesky page, and Pinterest boards. Then I tried to link my Instagram account and discovered I couldn’t, not without a Facebook page. Oh, brother.

I don’t have a Facebook page, never have. I don’t plan to have one. But don’t get me wrong, I find social media enjoyable and even helpful. Just not Facebook

Its popularity took off like a rocket when I was in graduate school. “Everybody,” my friends said, “is on it.” They couldn’t stop talking about it. Almost every conversation they had revolved around Facebook. From my perspective it was all they were interested in.

Then, I witnessed adult women in my classes regress to a collective of junior high school mean-girls who formed cliques based on their Facebook friends, who they included and who they excluded. I’m sure there are Facebook devotees who use it for higher purposes. Unfortunately, I didn’t encounter them.

One classmate tumbled far down the Facebook rabbit hole, staying up all night most nights to see who was posting and to be seen posting, afraid she might miss something. When the time came for us to write our graduate theses, she proposed writing hers about the nice peple she met playing FarmVille.

“How do you know those are actual people?” I asked.

She reacted as if I had attacked the very substance of her life. I guess I had but I didn’t mean to. I was concerned about her take on reality and her safety online. Looking back, I believe it ended our friendship.

Not saying that I’ll never have a Facebook page, but my introduction to it wasn’t the best. Justified or not, for now I’ll pass. Here’s my Instagram link .