Getting Back to Creation.

A strange chain of events occurred recently that culminated in this site, and another site I am creating. The idea had been bouncing around in my head for a while, but I’ve always put it off.

A few weeks ago I played a big part in orchestrating an Ed-Tech summit at my school, and it revitalized my desire to actually do things with my phone or computer, rather than just passively consume things with them.  Kern Kelley was one of the presenters at the conference, and he is who I want to be when I grow up (even though I think we are the same age).  His job revolves around using technology, but he uses tech to create and inspire, rather than just merely to consume. I’ll expand on that more in a later post, but I realized that over the years, the tech choices I have made, made me way more of a consumer, and less of a creator.  I wanted to get back to creating.  In fact, my new position at work almost requires it, if I am to do it well.

He was also very much against Facebook, and when I asked him why he said something that stuck with me.  I am paraphrasing here, but the general gist was that Facebook has made lots of decisions on what to do with their power and influence, and every time, they choose what is best for their bottom line.  They almost always choose the wrong decision.

Then I got a message one day from a co-worker warning me that students were accessing my Facebook pictures, and that they had one where I looked like a missing member of The Beatles.  Turns out they were able to access my old profile pictures. 

I knew it wasn’t a big issue because I had it locked down with privacy settings, but it prompted me to look and see how many pictures I had on there, many of which if you were looking at them, without context, would make me look insane.

Looking through all of it gave me more of a sense of dread rather than nostalgia.  How much had I needlessly shared with a company I had zero control over?  Why did I feel the need to share the majority of what I put out there?  What was I getting in return?

I was already on the fence about social media in general.  I have one very good friend who left Facebook due to the various issues with Russian interference in the election, and I was looking around to see where I stood, and what I gained after 10 years of social media use. The answer…….not much.  In fact, what was once fun, did not really seem fun anymore.  The only value I saw was the chronicle that was created of my children growing up, and the adventures my family has had over the years.  (That same chronicle can be seen in my photos on my computer.)  The only problem is, I don’t own it.  In fact, I gave it to someone for free, because it was easy. (Again, much more on this at a later time.)

Then, the Cambridge Analytica debacle was the final piece of the puzzle.

So:

I downloaded all the content I created on Facebook

I used the Social Book Post Manger extension in Chrome to delete all of my previous posts, as my wife looked on and said , “Goodbye memories.”  My pictures are still there, and they are all saved in Google photos.  I want to be able to pull the plug, but I haven’t yet.  I think what I am doing is redefining my relationship with the platform and how I use it, and how it uses me. For me, it still has its merits, and I think this latest scandal will cause it to self regulate (or even be actually regulated) way more than it has in the past.

I created a new Facebook messenger profile attached to my phone number. I find value in the service, as many of my friends in the United States use it, and it is my primary way to message them personally.   I also use WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, but it is necessary to communicate here in Costa Rica, just as Wechat was necessary in China.  Again, I find value in the services, and I am willing to exchange my data for their services.

I began researching my options for hosting my own websites, and even setting up my own social network using WordPress. I had heard of wordpress.com, but had no idea about wordpress.org, and that you could use their open source software to build your own sites.  Once I saw how easy it was, I purchased this domain and one other for $10 a year, and read tutorials on how to get it all going.  The surface is barely scratched at this point, and I look forward to playing around with the thousands of plugins and features I can use to create something unique for me and my family.

I had to pay for server space, but that is kind of the point of all of this.  If I value the content I create, and I value my privacy, then I have to pay for it. What we pay for expresses our values.  So for an initial payment of $92 or $7.66 per month, I have carved out my little corner of the internet that I own, and I am in the process of leaving my sharecropping agreement with social media.  With WordPress, I can automatically post that I have updated my blog to social networks, but I will own what I produce.  I can still use the ability to connect, without the tradeoff that convenience provides.  I can still use the masters land, but no longer have to give up what I produce. People will have to leave their newsfeeds to see what I am up to. It is not a simple as clicking the superficial, yet sought after, “like” button, but I guess that is also part of the point. (I swear I have tried to write this last paragraph without sounding sanctimonious. I am not sure my goal was reached.)

Which begs the question:  will anybody read any of this?

In reality, I do not expect many people to.  What I do expect is that the interactions I have with people here, will be deeper, and more real, than the quick heart emojis or smiley faces that accompany a great social media post.  Thousands of people have read my social media posts, and in reality, I have nothing to show for it.  Is it better to have a few people who really care what I am up to read my posts or view my photos, or is it better to reach as many people as conveniently as possible?  I guess only time will tell.

If you see me posting messages on Facebook again, and not just links to my blogs, you’ll know the answer.

These last two weeks, I have spent roughly the amount of time I would have spent on Facebook getting this set up and writing this post.  I acquired new skills, and even had to make sure I was using parentheses correctly. 

Most importantly, I enjoyed time well spent.

It is time for me to get back to creation.

Welcome to my site.

Please feel free to comment

………and feel free to share this post on social media, if that’s what you’re in to 🙂