Afraid of Erasure

I left Facebook a week ago; just decided I wasn’t going to go on it any more. I toyed with deleting my account but I have a page on there that I didn’t want to lose.

And then I thought about why I didn’t want to lose it. And it wasn’t that I didn’t want to. I was afraid to.

What if I lose opportunities? What if it’s the only way people get updated on my artistic endeavors (the purpose of the page)? What if it doesn’t look good for someone employed as a digital strategist and frequently asked to advise on or develop social media presences, doesn’t have a Facebook page?

So I kept it, set this blog and my Instagram account up to feed into the page, put up a notice on my personal page, deleted the apps off of my devices.

It’s all silly, really. There’s no reason to be afraid of any of the things I mentioned above. But that’s what I – and I believe most of us – have been trained to do: Be afraid to erase something that – we think – represents us and connects us, which it does but badly. Like having the clown from IT entertain your kids.

I’ve done this with my blogs before. I’ve blogged in various forms since roughly 2004, but I get into a headspace where I get tired of the format, the following, the comments, the interaction – and I just want to get rid of it all and bring it back to a place where I can think noiselessly yet publicly via writing.

This blog will last though – yes, it will – I mean it’s on a new URL and everything. Fancy.

But I’ve been thinking a lot about social media recently. And I’ll start to share some of that as I go along; it’ll be worth it.

Anywhoo – follow me on Instagram or Twitter while I’m still on there! Take A Chance On Me.

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