Electronic Noise

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I am taking a CEU for a certification and one of the topics is Electronic Noise and how we are all inundated with texts, messages via FB and Messenger, email, zoom, etc. Oftentimes multiple communications are sent by the same person in an attempt to reach group members via any method possible. I have never heard the phrase electronic noise but it pretty much sums up what is happening.

One of the issues with electronic noise is that we are beginning (or continuing) to ignore or delete incoming messages in order to relieve the stress of a full inbox or an increasing message ticker. As a result, important information is missed, communications are misinterpreted, and extra time is spent resending information to people who failed to read the information the first time is was transmitted.

What do you do to reduce your electronic noise? How are you communicating to groups of people? Have you altered your behavior (left groups, created a special email address for group email) in response to electronic noise?

[theelfqueen]

I don't use notifications. I just check the streams of info when I feel like it. 

Edited January 11, 2022 by theelfqueen

[SKL]

Yes, I have 3 different email addresses for different purposes, I keep my phone sound off most of the time, and I turn off notifications for things that aren't important.  I don't watch TV.  I have reduced my habits of checking info sources more often than necessary, and where practical, I choose settings to only see what I'm most interested in.  I unsubscribe as many unimportant email sources as possible.  I will also stay alone in my room rather than listen to housemates' electronic noise.

[Melissa Louise]

Don't use notifications so don't particularly notice noise. 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

Okay, there are at least two interpretations of electronic noise.

1= the actual noise your phone or device makes when a new message comes through and

2= the amount of electronic communication we receive via text, FB, Messenger, etc

Turning off the notification option is definitely one way to deal with the actual sound from your device. 

Unsubscribing to group notification, email lists, etc is one way to decrease the clutter and number of unwanted messages. 

I think this is an example of electronic noise: I have a dental appt on Friday. Today I received an email, an automated phone call, and a text message (which came in four parts) from the dentist's office to remind me to confirm the appt. This is overkill. I certainly didn't need three types of communication within 1 min of each other.  Yes, it was generated via a computer program but, wow, that was a lot of communication in a short span of time.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I turn off the actual sound on my devices.  It will buzz my wrist to let know that something is coming in.  It only takes me a glance to know if it's something I need to pay attention to or not.  If I do need to pay attention to it I handle it as soon as I can - often immediately or at least at the next available opportunity.  Then it's off my list.  If I don't need to pay attention it then I cross it mentally off my list and again - same effect - it's off my list.  I'm then left with perhaps two or three things that need to be handled at leisure - or with more attention because it needs more research or paperwork etc.  Those I put on my actual to-do list to handle as soon as possible so again - I can get it off of my list. 

I haven't found any need to leave a group, haven't misinterpreted anything and haven't missed anything.  I only have one or two people that I know who don't follow through on things (90% of the people I know seem to respond immediately like I do in order to get it off of their list).  Those people, I will put on my list to contact in person if I don't hear from them within a couple of days.  I don't have time or energy to wait around to see if they will get around to it or whether they've blown it off. 

[theelfqueen]

When I say I don't use notifications - I don't  just mean the noise from my phone... I mean the constant interruptions and expectation of immediate response - I don't get informed every time I get an email or an IM or someone responds to something I posted, etc. I don't let that constant stream reach me. I access those things on my own. 

[Melissa Louise]

Oh, right. Gotcha.

Electronic overwhelm. 

It's ok. Though I have 9997 emails in my inbox, lol. 

I don't really do anything to manage it, because it's not a big problem to me. 

[regentrude]

I have three email addresses. One for work, one for personal, and one for websites/subscriptions etc that I hardly ever check. The first two go to my phone as well. I receive a lot of emails for work every day and must read and respond promptly. My computer stays on during the workday and my email program is open. But don't have a notification sound, and when I want to work undisturbed I switch off the screen.

I don't give out my cell number unless necessary and have sound notifications off on my phone. So I get very few texts or calls.

I do not find email or a full inbox stressful. I try to move emails that I have dealt with into sub folders or delete them, but the ones that don't fit any folder categories stay in the inbox. I will never have zero-inbox and don't strive for it. I deal with all email within a few hours; in rare cases something needs to wait a couple of days because I need more info. But I find the most efficient way to answer immediately if possible.

One thing I am working on is not to answer work emails after hours. Whenever I do write answers, I don't send them at night but save them in the queue until the next morning so that I don't condition people that I am available in the evening. 

Facebook messenger is for private conversations. It does not bother me to chat with a friend. I do not do group conversations on messenger unless short term for a very specific purpose. I will leave any group chat once the mission (e.g. coordinate dinner or gifts) is accomplished

For groups, I find fb groups the most effective. I visit at my own discretion and have unselected notifications. 

Edited January 11, 2022 by regentrude

[fraidycat]

1 hour ago, theelfqueen said:

I don't use notifications. I just check the streams of info when I feel like it. 

This!

[SounderChick]

Turn off all notifications not just on my phone but on Facebook, email etc.  

Things like doctors where I get the text, phone and email.  I may block or have sent to a spam folder so I only get 1.

[Catwoman]

I’m very selective about which notifications I allow. Some companies were hounding me several times a day to let me know about all of the amazing deals that I have zero interest in. (Looking at you, Target and JoAnn!)

[EmilyGF]

So, I got rid of my smart phone and got a dumb phone. All my texts are actually that - text. I don't take email when not at home. I made the change in fall 2019 and love it.

I have so much less stress and anxiety. I feel better connected with those I'm in contact with, though I'm not in contact with as many people (no more social media, either). 

I'm reading "Subprime Attention Crisis" right now which deals with some of this. Needed an editor, but the ideas are interesting.

Emily

[SKL]

I also do very little texting or talking on the phone.  Other than work/business stuff, I have very few electronic contacts with even people close to me.  With my brothers, it's a few times a year max.  Sisters, a couple times a month.  Parents, once every month or two.  We just don't need to be in constant contact.

My kids, more, because they need a ride home and such.  That doesn't bother me, as long as they aren't naggy.

I don't use facebook messenger, whatsapp, etc.  I have them available, because some people only contact that way, but they are rarely opened.

[Eos]

10 hours ago, regentrude said:

so that I don't condition people that I am available in the evening. 

This.  I've thought about having "office hours" as an electronic human, and maybe having an email auto-response that says I'm only responding to emails in a certain time period of the day and if they really need me now, call my landline.  

[MEmama]

I don’t get notified when emails come in, and I only check them every few days or less. I do like to know when I get texts because most are from DS and I like to respond to him when he’s available. We have a 5 hour time difference and I never know when he’s in class or studying, so I try to take advantage of communicating with him on his timeline. For other people, I don’t have any sense that I need to respond right away, nor do any of my friends. No one gets offended if a reply takes a few days. It makes DH twitchy if my phone goes off while we are doing something else like watching tv and I don’t check, but I guess I’m just not hardwired to prioritize my phone over what I’m actually doing. I don’t have FB or other social media that would send alerts.

[Emba]

This is why my DD missed sophomore orientation this school year. The school has an app with text style notifications. They send out info in school events for the whole district, pre k through high school, including athletics and athletics booster events, and there’s no way to only get the important ones (I.e. those not related to sports that my kids isn’t doing and I don’t care about, much less the boosters, and those that are only for the campuses in which I have students). Even in the summer, the vast majority were things I was not interested in. Also there is a misuse of words like ”important” to include such things as the last day to buy school spirit tee shirts.
 

So when they sent out the message about mandatory orientation, in among the football practice and the preschool info other stuff, I missed it, because I don’t really read all that junk. Halfway through a friend texted to ask if I was going to go (her daughter was in DD’s class). It was too late then. Later the school Secretary got snippy with me because DD hadn’t gone, but honestly, if it’s mandatory and very important, they need to send a letter out. There were lots of parents who missed. The app has potential to be really helpful, but as it is, only about 5%-10% of messages apply to me, and I don’t read most of them. The first line that shows up on my Lock Screen had better grab my attention and indicate that this is applicable to me and mine.

Edited January 11, 2022 by Emba

[MEmama]

13 minutes ago, Emba said:

This is why my DD missed sophomore orientation this school year. The school has an app with text style notifications. They send out info in school events for the whole district, pre k through high school, including athletics and athletics booster events, and there’s no way to only get the important ones (I.e. those not related to sports that my kids isn’t doing and I don’t care about, much less the boosters, and those that are only for the campuses in which I have students). Even in the summer, the vast majority were things I was not interested in. Also there is a misuse of words like ”important” to include such things as the last day to buy school spirit tee shirts.
 

So when they sent out the message about mandatory orientation, in among the football practice and the preschool info other stuff, I missed it, because I don’t really read all that junk. Halfway through a friend texted to ask if I was going to go (her daughter was in DD’s class). It was too late then. Later the school Secretary got snippy with me because DD hadn’t gone, but honestly, if it’s mandatory and very important, they need to send a letter out. There were lots of parents who missed. The app has potential to be really helpful, but as it is, only about 5%-10% of messages apply to me, and I don’t read most of them. The first line that shows up on my Lock Screen had better grab my attention and indicate that this is applicable to me and mine.

That would drive me crazy! What a terrible system. 

We used to miss school and sports stuff because we don’t have FB. DS doesn’t have it either (by choice), so we often found out about things after the fact and missed lots of things like access to photos and so on. It’s ridiculous that a school would expect reliance on social media use when they simultaneously, you know, preach against over relying on social media? 

[TheReader]

The main thing I've done, and suggested to my teens/young adults, is to turn off notifications. I know so many who get notifications from every single social media platform they're a part of -- no. I have mine set to texts and phone calls, only. Everything else I check on my schedule, so that I remain in control and not the other way around. It's a simple thing, but makes such a big difference. 

As far as email, I do create folders sometimes/as needed (so, for ex, not always but at Christmas time I'll create ones for online orders and such and shuttle all order emails there to sort/look at as needed).  If I had more categories/need for that, I'd use that option more often as well. It helps a lot. 

And yes, I do have a junk email and a real email, but I think everyone does that, right? 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

@Emba - This is exactly what we were discussing. How organizations are using electronic communication for every little thing and the people who send out the messages are using subject lines that are meant to grab everyone's attention but everyone is doing the same thing so no one knows what is actually important and people are receiving multiple messages that go unread because, well, the t-shirt order form was flagged as important but orientation wasn't but it was tucked in between Mrs. Smith's cookie fundraiser, the notice that basketball players will be having practice 30 mins late this week, and the PSA that dogs are not allowed on school grounds because no one is picking up the poop and it is being tracked in the hallways.

[fraidycat]

41 minutes ago, Emba said:

This is why my DD missed sophomore orientation this school year. The school has an app with text style notifications. They send out info in school events for the whole district, pre k through high school, including athletics and athletics booster events, and there’s no way to only get the important ones (I.e. those not related to sports that my kids isn’t doing and I don’t care about, much less the boosters, and those that are only for the campuses in which I have students). Even in the summer, the vast majority were things I was not interested in. Also there is a misuse of words like ”important” to include such things as the last day to buy school spirit tee shirts.
 

So when they sent out the message about mandatory orientation, in among the football practice and the preschool info other stuff, I missed it, because I don’t really read all that junk. Halfway through a friend texted to ask if I was going to go (her daughter was in DD’s class). It was too late then. Later the school Secretary got snippy with me because DD hadn’t gone, but honestly, if it’s mandatory and very important, they need to send a letter out. There were lots of parents who missed. The app has potential to be really helpful, but as it is, only about 5%-10% of messages apply to me, and I don’t read most of them. The first line that shows up on my Lock Screen had better grab my attention and indicate that this is applicable to me and mine.

That is a horrible system. Ack! 

[regentrude]

33 minutes ago, MEmama said:

We used to miss school and sports stuff because we don’t have FB. DS doesn’t have it either (by choice), so we often found out about things after the fact and missed lots of things like access to photos and so on. It’s ridiculous that a school would expect reliance on social media use when they simultaneously, you know, preach against over relying on social media? 

OTOH, a school/organization using FB would exactly alleviate the electronic noise complaints we are discussing. Because then folks could go and check on their own time without being innundated with info sent to them via different channels.
I very much prefer pull over push.

They have to communicate in some way.

[wintermom]

I only have the noise notification on my work email, and I appreciate it.  All my other email address and texts I go in and check when I want to. I have all the control and I don't feel stressed by large numbers of communications. I actually like it. It's like checking off a box to deal with the items. 

[Grace Hopper]

14 hours ago, Granny_Weatherwax said:

Okay, there are at least two interpretations of electronic noise.

1= the actual noise your phone or device makes when a new message comes through and

2= the amount of electronic communication we receive via text, FB, Messenger, etc

Turning off the notification option is definitely one way to deal with the actual sound from your device. 

Unsubscribing to group notification, email lists, etc is one way to decrease the clutter and number of unwanted messages. 

I think this is an example of electronic noise: I have a dental appt on Friday. Today I received an email, an automated phone call, and a text message (which came in four parts) from the dentist's office to remind me to confirm the appt. This is overkill. I certainly didn't need three types of communication within 1 min of each other.  Yes, it was generated via a computer program but, wow, that was a lot of communication in a short span of time.

I do what’s already been mentioned - turning off notifications. This prevents most distracting pop-up messages as well as unnecessary alert sounds. I only turn the ringer/text sounds on when I am expecting a time-sensitive call or message. Otherwise it’s off and I check my phone on my schedule, not when a sound demands it.

I have several email addresses and when I need to provide a contact email, choose the one that is specific to an activity or job or priority level. 

I opt out of text messaging options except for urgent business. 
 

I delete messages asap and unsubscribe to anything that comes from a random mailing list (usually after Christmas when I’ve made online purchases). I utilize folders in my email account so I can immediately sort things I need to keep into a queue that doesn’t clutter up my main inbox. I also set aside a time about once a month - a to do list item - for digital decluttering of the priority accounts. I don’t waste my time doing it for my low priority aka throwaway email addresses, if I need something from one of them I just do a search of that inbox. 
 

IME professional offices always ask if text messaging is an option - I have always been given the opportunity to opt out. IRL I don’t usually text anyone I haven’t at least once prior communicated with via email, phone or face to face and asked if texting is a good tool for them. 
 

I am only on fb these days because of ties to one activity and one political historian I follow regularly. It is easy to jump on and check just these two things and not get lost in the feed that pops up. 

[Grace Hopper]

3 hours ago, Eos said:

This.  I've thought about having "office hours" as an electronic human, and maybe having an email auto-response that says I'm only responding to emails in a certain time period of the day and if they really need me now, call my landline.  

When I send emails outside of work hours, I usually end with something like “I’m sending this now as I am thinking of it, but I do not expect a response until after you’re back in the office.” Especially if I’m emailing a teacher about something I think of over the weekend. 
 

@regentrudeI like your method of queuing up things to send in the morning. Smart! Gonna steal that one. Not sure if any of you have had this thought, but there are a few people that send me emails with time stamps in the wee hours. I imagine the American mindset is to think wow, dedication! But frankly I think, that person isn’t working smartly if they are having to send emails at 2am. 

[regentrude]

4 minutes ago, Grace Hopper said:

 

@regentrudeI But frankly I think, that person isn’t working smartly if they are having to send emails at 2am. 

Actually,  I think it's a great way to deal with insomnia. ( I just won't send then, but I definitely have handled email when I couldn't sleep)

[Grace Hopper]

36 minutes ago, regentrude said:

OTOH, a school/organization using FB would exactly alleviate the electronic noise complaints we are discussing. Because then folks could go and check on their own time without being innundated with info sent to them via different channels.
I very much prefer pull over push.

They have to communicate in some way.

I have to agree - as much as I dislike fb, ime fb groups are the most efficient method of communication for groups. Info there is organized by post with comments and questions attached to each post, plus it does provide a semi-private way to post and and access photos. 

[J-rap]

I disconnected email from my phone, so I only get my email when I open up my laptop and look at it.  I get to choose when.  I also assume that anyone emailing me a business type letter would never expect me to attend to it after typical workday hours anyway.

The people who text me are understanding of time of day, etc., so I don't run into getting a bunch of texts at all hours.  I turn off the sound on my phone at night, although if I wake up during the night (I usually do once/night), I do check my phone to see if there are any emergency calls or texts.

[Grace Hopper]

4 minutes ago, regentrude said:

Actually,  I think it's a great way to deal with insomnia. ( I just won't send then, but I definitely have handled email when I couldn't sleep)

Oh sure! Read, compose, whenever the time is right for you. There are good reasons for folks to actually work that late. 
 

My impressions of those “not working smartly” probably comes in part because I know them and that they are typically wait til the last minute then panic sorts of folks, kwim? But your method of waiting to send til morning gives a more…professional?… appearance. 

[MEmama]

43 minutes ago, regentrude said:

OTOH, a school/organization using FB would exactly alleviate the electronic noise complaints we are discussing. Because then folks could go and check on their own time without being innundated with info sent to them via different channels.
I very much prefer pull over push.

They have to communicate in some way.

The coach used an app which worked great for schedules and truly essential communication. The “extras”— parties, photos, fun stuff— was only on FB; I don’t even think we knew about it until DS's junior or senior year when it was mentioned in passing. Oh well. We choose to opt out of using FB so it’s not like we were upset or anything to have missed out. The benefits of not having it far outweigh the few things we might not know about. 

[regentrude]

6 minutes ago, MEmama said:

 We choose to opt out of using FB ...The benefits of not having it far outweigh the few things we might not know about. 

What do you find those benefits are for you?

I am not seeking to start an argument, just curious,  because I haven't seen any negatives of using fb (with a carefully curated feed and being mindful of privacy settings and not getting sucked into contentious debates with random strangers). I manage three different pages and don't see a substitute for any of them.

So I would like to learn why folks find it beneficial NOT to use social media. 

Edited January 11, 2022 by regentrude

[MEmama]

Just now, regentrude said:

What do you find those benefits are for you?

I am not seeking to start an argument, just curious,  because I haven't seen any negatives of using fb (with a carefully curated feed and being mindful of privacy settings). I manage three different pages and don't see a substitute for any of them. 

In addition to avoiding the insidious tracking that goes well beyond the usual suspects, I truly have no need for it. It’s not an effective way for me to keep in touch with friends or family, and I don’t belong to groups or anything that might use it (and honestly, if that’s the platform they use I’d just opt out of those groups anyway). I’m not against all social media and in fact I use Instagram, which I fully realize is a FB subsidiary, in a very curated way, and obviously I’m on this space every day.
 

I hear so much stress from people about FB related drama, I’m glad I never invited it into my sphere. Tbh I don’t think any of my friends or family I communicate with regularly even use it any more, if they ever did. I think maybe my MIL does, but that’s a world of crazy I don't want any part of. It has been much easier for me to just not use it than to be forced to fight the pressure to get sucked in. 🙂 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

 I distribute information for a tennis league that is composed primarily of adults 60+ (tennis has an aging population). The majority of them are not on Facebook and a couple of them still use cellphones that do not have instant messaging and only basic texting capability. One woman still has an old slider phone. I cannot use social media to contact them. It has to be via email or phone call. Even with email, I am not certain they will check it in time to be notified of schedule or  player changes.

With the younger tennis players (under 60), text messaging is the way to go but getting all of the players to consent to using a group text was near impossible. I have a couple of women who prefer not to be in group texts so I have to message them separately. 

I created a FB page for tennis and that's where I post pictures of activities and service projects but so few tennis players in our area use FB, it's mostly an archive for me.

When I was coaching, I had to be on call 24/7, in case international students needed information. I had to work within their time zones for business and government offices. Turning off the volume wasn't an option.

I also had to post regularly on social media (Instagram and Twitter mostly as most young people do not use FB anymore). We were required to post so many times a day, week, and month. We also had to time our posts so they wouldn't coincide with the general athletic department posts. There were pages for recruits, current athletes, and alumni. The content emphasis for each group was always just a bit different so the same message couldn't be copied and pasted. The alumni office wanted us to write one way in order to increase our chances of alumni donations. The admission office wanted a different template. Trying to keep up was like walking a tightrope carrying your grandmother's china while wearing Crocs.

The recruits were always complaining about the number of incoming messages but there was nothing the coaches could do about it.

[Corraleno]

I have notifications turned off for everything and my phone is usually set to Do Not Disturb with a list of about 6-8 numbers that will go through (including my kids) so I just check mail, FB groups, Insta, etc., when it's convenient.

DS, on the other hand, really struggles to keep up with messages and does miss things all the time. He has a personal email, college email, the Canvas notification system, announcement folders in each class portal in Canvas, some kind of app that the varsity team uses for notifications, plus texts and Snapchat, which get used by friends as well as coaches for important info. And it used to be worse — when he was a freshman they had an inexperienced new coach who set up a team FB page and would post major changes to practice times as late as 10-11 PM the night before. Half the kids never remembered to check it late at night and would show up at the wrong time because of last minute changes. So now they use a dedicated app for that, but it also just adds one more thing DS has to check multiple times a day.

[regentrude]

25 minutes ago, MEmama said:

I hear so much stress from people about FB related drama,

Yes, I hear that too and it puzzles me greatly. I haver never had any drama on fb; it's not like that's hard to avoid.

 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

5 minutes ago, regentrude said:

Yes, I hear that too and it puzzles me greatly. I have never had any drama on fb; it's not like that's hard to avoid.

 

I don't see much drama from Group pages any more but when DD was in high school and FB was THE method of choice for social media (I think this was before Instagram), it was bad. For one sport, there was the official FB page. This had the practice pics, game day pics, practice and game schedules, and fundraiser info. Stuff like that. Then there was the unofficial FB page where the stuff that the coach and girls didn't want parents to see were posted. Then there was the unofficial players only FB page. This one was the one where the real crap went down. Cyber bullying, discussion of parties, boyfriend drama/pregnancy scares - it was so far beyond what a sports team page needed to be but it was certainly more gritty than anything being posted on the generic public team page. When that page was discovered...well, it wasn't pretty.

It was too easy to create private, unofficial pages and that was where 99.9% of the drama occurred. It still is easy to create pages and change privacy settings but, with fewer young people relying on FB, I think it has decreased. Although I do know young people with multiple Insta accounts; one approved for family and friends and one for others.

[regentrude]

14 minutes ago, Granny_Weatherwax said:

 Then there was the unofficial FB page where the stuff that the coach and girls didn't want parents to see were posted. Then there was the unofficial players only FB page. This one was the one where the real crap went down. Cyber bullying, discussion of parties, boyfriend drama/pregnancy scares - it was so far beyond what a sports team page needed to be but it was certainly more gritty than anything being posted on the generic public team page. When that page was discovered...well, it wasn't pretty.

It was too easy to create private, unofficial pages and that was where 99.9% of the drama occurred. It still is easy to create pages and change privacy settings but, with fewer young people relying on FB, I think it has decreased. Although I do know young people with multiple Insta accounts; one approved for family and friends and one for others.

I don't think the platform makes the drama. I am pretty sure the young people now find different mediums through which to do all the above...

[TravelingChris]

1 hour ago, regentrude said:

What do you find those benefits are for you?

I am not seeking to start an argument, just curious,  because I haven't seen any negatives of using fb (with a carefully curated feed and being mindful of privacy settings and not getting sucked into contentious debates with random strangers). I manage three different pages and don't see a substitute for any of them.

So I would like to learn why folks find it beneficial NOT to use social media. 

Yeah-  I get lots of bird photos on my Facebook.  And beautiful photos of my state, Yellowstone Park, etc.  Plus, I am on groups that I want to be on-like ones about my diseases or nature ones or local ones like old photos of my city or rehoming pets.  Plus I keep up with my friends who live far away.  And I love having both young and old friends.  I don't have negative issues on it.  I am not on political discussion groups or anything like that.

[plaidpants]

3 hours ago, regentrude said:

What do you find those benefits are for you?

I am not seeking to start an argument, just curious,  because I haven't seen any negatives of using fb (with a carefully curated feed and being mindful of privacy settings and not getting sucked into contentious debates with random strangers). I manage three different pages and don't see a substitute for any of them.

So I would like to learn why folks find it beneficial NOT to use social media. 

I have a Facebook I'll be off until Easter, I think an Instagram still (I should check on that). I've had loads of accounts on those and other sites.

Facebook and Twitter are awful in terms of their overall impact on society. Fake news, outrage, stalking/doxing/other violence, priming users to negative knee jerk reaction. Instagram is just ads now, tik tok is literally Chinese spyware, Tumblr is a mess of fandoms stalking celebrities and corn-bots, etc. Social media itself has always been about one-upping and keeping up and I don't care to do any of that, to say nothing of not being interest in being a thing for the oligarchs to use as another pawn as they invade and erode what privacy we still have. Needless to say, I am not a fan of the internet of things!

My personal FB news feed is a mess of terrible boomer memes, game or click bait posts, vague drama posting. But none of my family use email any more, apparently, and it's less drama and stress to have a Facebook I don't use. I don't get it either, but not posting is somehow not the same as not having an account to them, and I'm still trying to keep a kind of peace right now.

But there aren't great alternatives. Bulletin boards, blogs, and even regular websites have fallen out of favor, and functional paper no longer exists.

Edited January 11, 2022 by plaidpants
apologies for the rant 😂

[theelfqueen]

I have Instgram (on private- basically only scrapbooking and Disney stuff).

I run the museum's Instagram.

I have a Facebook account... I do not have FB friends. I am in a couple of groups -- a couple of scrapbook groups, local food truck groups (I coordinate food trucks for museum events) and groups related to my kid's activities ie.Karate group. That is all. Basically no drama. No issues. Not really a feed of stuff. I do not use the app. I used messenger this summer while organizing Food Trucks for the museum- that was the most communication I've ever done on the platform. 

Edited January 11, 2022 by theelfqueen