I’ve been fascinated for a while by the disdain most people on Twitter (and among many who’ve migrated to Post or Mastodon) seem to have for Facebook. While I agree that Zuckerberg is an a** and would prefer not to support him, Facebook serves a completely different purpose for me than Twitter (now Mastodon, Post) and I can’t talk people there into moving…
On Twitter, Mastodon and Post I am in a world of people I don’t know irl and am mainly staying informed about and engaging in discussion of politics, political philosophy, etc. Plus, you know, the animal pics 🙂
I’ve kept Facebook devoted entirely to people I know in real life aside from occasionally accepting friend requests from people who know lots of other people I know (and I usually wind up meeting them at some point). There are friends from elementary school, high school, college, almost every town I’ve lived in and several spiritual organizations with which I’ve been connected.
Because I’ve always been a hippie and always found my way to hippies and/or people on a deeply spiritual path, 99% of the folks on my Facebook list are progressives and the majority also meditate or chant or follow Buddhist philosophy, etc.
My feed is full of inspiring memes, interesting articles on politics and climate science, etc. Even more endearing are the posts that keep me apprised of the lives of friends from all stages of my life. The kitchen remodel, the Christmas tree, the party with grandchildren…
Although I use Zoom and Skype more, I also Facetime with dear ones and occasionally someone uses the call feature to reach me.
The spiritual center I belonged to in Lexington has a page and a community group and I can stay in touch with people as well as watch the weekly service on FB or YouTube.
Following Deva Premal and Miten led to finding out about and joining the Global Gayatri Sangha and I’ve been singing the Gayatri with folks from around the world on Saturdays ever since. The group also does a lot of mutual support via FB as well as the sangha’s app.
Following Krishna Das led to joining his Thursday satsang every week and being reminded of them via his posts. And joining the Spirit Rock group means I get a notice whenever Jack Kornfield is giving a dharma talk.
A lot of people talk about FB as toxic and full of trolls, etc. but my friends and I have curated our lists and created a warm and kind space to hang out in. For me it’s a major place of connecting and feels a bit deeper because much of the connecting is with people I know.
Since I know a number of my fellow bloggers are on Facebook too, I’m interested in your experience.
Not Just Sassy on the Inside 
Agreed as it is all how you use FB .
Selfisly I use it as sort of a scrapbook for my hobbies and friends mostly as photography with captions as I found it a very awkward discussion forum otherwise
I joined Facebook to keep in touch with all my family who are scattered all over the world, to see their photos growing up and here about their joys and sorrows! AND then I met all my local costawomen in business and social so my friends increased abundantly! I also found many blogging friends too! I love it, it continues to expand and reflect my focus❤️ For me Facebook has been living proof of how we are all creators of our life! I only see beauty all around me! I never did get on with twitter… far too much to say😂🤣 Wishing you a great new year my lovely, May it be a year creating more magic and miracles in this physical world! Love barbara x
Happy 2023 Leigh! I hope it is full of new beginnings and joy. Regarding Facebook, I am rather lucky in this regard. I use it mostly to catch up with classmates, friends, blog pals and family who I rarely see or may never see again ( offline. ) Plus it gives me access to many spiritual groups, my astrology colleagues, and offshoots of classes I take. I like art regularly so my feed is full of art. There is occasional nastiness but not much, especially since my circle is small. I enjoy messaging people this way, a great way to connect with folks who don’t enjoy email of phone calls. It is very convenient.
I spend less time on social media after watching The Social Network and because of my disdain for big tech. I use Twitter mostly for my blog but really don’t understand the attraction. I am grateful that FB exists because it brought back some people into my life who would have been long gone ( such as elementary school classmates from when I lived in other states and left as a child. ) I also found Chopra meditation there. Sometimes it can serve as an oracle for me, bringing me content that triggers a dream from the night before, or leads me to a great workshop, book, etc that moves me forward. I wish it was more regulated and hate the psychological damage all these platforms deliberately create. Yet, I focus on the positive and mostly post my Wordle scores! 🙂
My experience is much like yours because I curate my experience there with mostly people I know irl. I have no problem leaving groups I’ve joined when they no longer feel right or unfriending people who no longer resonate. And sometimes I snooze one or two people from time to time or unfollow them. Whatever feels right at the time. But in general, I like to use Facebook. And although I have a Twitter account, I rarely interact on that platform.