I just can’t with Facebook / Instagram / Meta anymore

In 2006 I did a guest lecture at UNH School of Computer science on “Web 2.0” and how tools like Facebook fostered collaboration and community, how this would elevate and benefit society in the longer run. How the best ideas would rise to the top through productive discourse.

What a terrible prediction.

In 2025, Instagram has built data centers in poor rural areas upending wildlife and residential neighborhoods, draining water supplies, skyrocketing local electricity prices, and creating an entirely new segment of CO2 emission sources. They’ve quietly removed support for opting out of using your content for AI training. Every painting I post feeds their generators. Despite an insanely profitable $62B run rate they have laid of tens of thousands of their own staff upending their lives just to replace them with identical job titles and exploit the fragile labor market.

I often think about the quote from Marley “be the change in the world that you want to see” I try to live by this principal.

Again I LOVE the concept of social media. Maybe someday this tanker will turn in a direction of compassion, empathy, respect for intellectual property. And I’ll re-join! But I’m not going to hold my breath. They may be insanely successful with whatever their dystopian goal is, but I won’t be part of enabling it.

I hope I don’t lose contact with you though! Sharing my art with like-minded folks means so much to me. It’s an energy source. It keeps me going. Please send me an email or subscribe to the site newsletter. I will give your contact information respect and care. And I’m keen on making it worth your time. So join me if you will.