Lately, I have started my posts by mentioning a creativity tool or technique which I used to develop and flesh out the content on the topic du jour.  Today’s article again draws on Carl Jung’s concept of “synchronicity,” the ability to see connections where none seem to exist.  The observation which triggered today’s topic was the July 26, 2018 story on CBS Moneywatch, “Facebook stock suffers largest one-day drop in history, shedding $119 billion.”  The decline was based on data in the company’s most recent quarterly report :

• The number of active users grew more slowly than estimated.
• Imposition of new privacy laws by the European Union.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg took a one-day personal loss of $15.9 billion.  For the record, that is more than the market capitalization of Coors ($14 billion) and Macy’s ($12 billion).  No tears shed by me.  The company which promised to “Give people the power to build community and bring the world together (actual Facebook mission statement),” is nothing more a human version of crowd-funding where the currency is personal data instead of dollars.  And worse, they have lured each of us into doing their heavy lifting.

Facebook is an addiction.  A February 6, 2018 article on The Motley Fool website reported the average daily user, of which there are 1.4 billion, spends 41 minutes per day on Facebook.  No wonder Facebook is in the cross-hairs of those who want to understand how social media was such a major force in the 2016 presidential election.  Just imagine if voters had spent those 41 minutes reading a newspaper or magazine, learning more about the state of health care in America or facts about immigration.

Which brings me back to Carl Jung and synchronicity.  How do organizations which fight other addictions make the habitué and public aware of the impact of dependency?  Perhaps the best example is “The Great American Smoke-Out.”  Since 1974, when editor of the Monticello Times (MN) Lynn R. Smith first proposed the idea (then called Don’t Smoke Day), the third Thursday in November each year is designated as a challenge for smokers to eschew their habit for at least 24 hours.  At the same time, media is flooded with helpful hints and tools smokers should consider to aid in permanently ending their desire or need for nicotine.

In the same spirit, I now declare May 14 (Mark Zuckerberg’s birthday) of each year to be “The Great American Face-Out,” a 24 hour period during which Facebook users give their thumbs a rest and keep the pictures of their children, pets, latest meal or vacation to themselves.  Which begs the question, “What do I do with all that time?”  The obvious answer is pick up a major national newspaper or magazine and learn something new about what is actually happening in the United States or around the world.  But I have a better idea.  Read something you normally would never read.  Here are a few suggestions.

• Pick up a copy of The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic written by conservative talk show host Mark Levin.  It is the Koch brothers and Tea Party manifesto.  Proposed amendments include returning election of U.S. Senators to state legislatures (not by popular vote per the 17th amendment), allowing states to amend the Constitution without Congressional involvement in the process, limiting early voting, permitting two-thirds of the states to nullify federal laws and restricting judicial review by federal courts.
• Spend 30 minutes on 4Chan, the website whose patrons have come up with the QAnon conspiracy theory and believe they are being manipulated by an international cabal of pedophiles including Tom Hanks.
• Spend a few minutes on The Daily Stormer, the self-proclaimed “most-censored site on the Internet.”  Would the most censored site on the Internet start a story about a school play which explored the parallels between Anne Frank and DACA recipients by opening with the following.  “The only people that go to watch plays are homosexuals, housewives and the sons/husbands they manage to drag with them.”  Or a whole section called the “Jewish Problem.”

Why would I recommend this?  Because it is the source of much of the drivel that is spread, in sanitized form, on Facebook.  The source material puts the Facebook versions to shame. So, if you’re wondering why I cancelled my Facebook account,  it is not because I’m not interested in your lives.  I have email and you are welcome to share anything you want with me.  The real reason?  I stopped checking Facebook for a few days and guess what?  I can live without it.  Furthermore, in the real world I do not monetize my friendships.  Why would I want to be an accomplice to someone who does exactly that in the virtual world and can lose $119 billion and not have to turn to flipping burgers at McDonald’s?

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP