Cathartic Deletions

I decided to kill the majority of my Facebook posts. It’s taken me a couple of weeks as it’s a laborious task - you can’t batch delete things on Facebook, you have to go through every post one at time (tip - you can delete quicker using a the dedicated app on a tablet or a phone - it really takes an age doing it in a browser.). I haven’t done this because of the latest scare stories regarding data mining and that Cambridge Analytics or whatever, it’s something I’ve been contemplating for quite a while.

I only deleted posts made by me, posts made on my “wall” (remember that?) by others and posts I’m tagged in (that results in losing quite a few photographs). All my “likes” remain (deleting those would take forever and a day). I’ve left a few that I liked or thought were important, but not that many.

I did it this way instead of just deleting Facebook as I still use it for keeping up to date with some events and organisations I need to know about, who use Facebook as their main, or only, point of contact.

It felt quite cathartic, to be honest. I came across a lot of memories between 2018 and 2008 - some funny, some not quite so funny, some downright serious, most inane.

Doing it felt, in a way, like getting rid of some baggage I’ve gathered in the last few years.

My posts changed somewhat from 2014 onwards - when I got involved in Scottish Independence and took a deeper interest in politics, things lurched into an altogether more serious direction. Before that time, I posted a lot more humorous updates. I also noted that I seemed to consider myself a lot funnier than I actually am.

It did make me miss the times when I’d post stupid home made videos - although these might also be an indication as to my mental state at the time.

Another observation was that almost every post I did before 2010 was cross-posted from Twitter. I really did (and still do) prefer that platform to Facebook, but contentious politics and opinion-wise, there be dragons.

I’ve taken a massive step back from politics recently and to be honest, it feels a good deal better. My blood feels less boiled.

My idea now is to use this blog more often, post links to it using Facebook, then delete all FB posts at the end of each month. This blog will remain as an archive. At least it’s something I control and I won’t be selling any of it to data miners any time in the near future (not something I’m that bothered about). That’s the plan, anyway.

I got rid of most of that baggage with the tap of a finger. I just wish it was as simple to do in real life.