Congratulations. The whole idea of constant social contact with hundreds of people IS a waste of time. It’s a drug that is as addictive as any of the illegal ones

This is true. So I buy something on amazon and get banner ads on Firefox for the same exact thing for days afterword. I am 73 and really don’t fear other people’s opinions of me, so this is upsetting but not that important to me anymore. That said, it does concern me that the media and particularly government, both of which are my enemies, will find some way to attack my freedom and assets more effectively

You are right. I look at a lot of websites including non politically correct ones ( like this one). !

I left Facebook a year ago, hardly ever used it, and my life is far simpler and placid now, leaving more time for intellectual pursuits.

You can limit what you voluntarily provide, but your personal information is also bought, sold and hacked, out of your control.

You need to do more than that. They are monitoring you when you go to other websites even if you are not logged in to facebook. It helps to use the NoScript firefox plugin to block unwanted java script such as facebook monitoring.

Good to know. I may check that out. I mainly use FB for the #s. It provide a huge audience for my books (and opinions truth be told).

Me too.....

There is a facebook alternative that calls itself MEWE (https://mewe.com/) that claims to be unbiased. Trouble is that so far there is not much on it. I got off face book years ago - then someone tried to hijack my email address so he could get on facebook. I took his account instead and the only things I post on facebook relate to seeking help with a problem on my collector car ;-) OR links to articles like those of Robert Gore.

The left has always desired to censor ideas that they disagree with. The don't understand the meaning of a free press or media. Free press doesn't mean only those things I agree with are to be allowed. Most of the time they get a pass on this which tells me that they have no idea of what freedom is all about.

Alex needs to license the radio wave blocking technology that John Galt used to make his 3 hour speech.

Another test of American patriots' resolve.
The obvious response should be for every person who favors liberty to close down their accounts and refuse to be patrons of biased sites and biased companies. Of course, that would crush the share prices of some obvious companies.

I suppose in a society where its was OK to have different views, might not be such a problem. But, once let out, information can never be retracted, and can be used in ways one never anticipated

True enough. Once posted, its there for everyone to see and distribute. "everyone" also includes the NSA too as well as the liberal political correctness squad, which is unsettling in itself.

Chuckle.

After initially using Facebook right after it started becoming popular, I accidentally let it send out information to all the connections in my Outlook. I was stunned and astounded at all the crap from people I never wanted to communicate with again after many years. And the content was uninformative and stupid, IMHO. It took what seemed forever to get rid of all that. I then went on and off, and now after several years, have finally been able to get off Facebook. Try removing yourself from FB to see what I mean.
Now I am FB free, am happier, have more time for important things, and those important to me have my email address. Life is good.

They just don't think about longer term effects or uses of that information.

I downloaded it as well ... probably never use it but I don't like what's happening. ....
FYI app links:
Google:
https://tinyurl.com/yb9jl3eu
IOS:
https://tinyurl.com/ya988sln

In some ways similar to Galt's Gulch Online?

But people can stop it by not giving out personal information, like completely on their own. Posting on facebook lets anyone see what you wrote

Exactly

Facebook is something that is NOT necessary to conduct ones life. Its a giant waste of time for the most part, in that its addicting and takes hours during the day posting inane things.

I would bet that somewhere they are being helped by government in the back rooms.

I think that once these social media giants start censoring, its the beginning of the end for them. Their appear was that you could put up there whatever you wanted, not what was acceptable to some 18 year old censor clerk.

there is NO PUBLIC INTEREST. Obviously some people patronize the monopolies, so their interest is in leaving it alone. Breaking up monopolies that ARENT already kept in business through governmental powers should be left alone.