Artist Statement:
By now, many in society are at least vaguely aware of the ways in which the social media company Facebook collects and distributes user data. This collection and use of user data by Facebook has been prolific in helping to distribute misinformation and disinformation on a wide array of subject matter. The Philippines, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, the United States, and Myanmar have all had their societies negatively impacted to a large degree by Facebook as it has spread through these countries causing violence and political unrest. The passiveness of Facebook in allowing disinformation, misinformation, and many forms of hateful rhetoric to knowingly spread out of control on its platform can not be tolerated by the public. These behaviors from a company with such vast influence in the future of our world can not go unchecked. Instagram is an even worse offender of collecting its user’s data, though they have taken a much more subtle approach to this than Facebook. Send these social media companies, and the others like them, a message. Opt out of their shit system. Moving forward we as a globally connected society must rethink what we expect of the companies who structure our modern interactions and information exchanges. As Mark Zuckerburg himself said about his company Facebook, “We want to build our culture and our infrastructure so that we just try and move, you know, one or two clicks faster than, than other companies, and you know, sometimes we go to fast and we mess up a bunch of stuff and we have to fix it, and that’s cool.” What is cool is that it’s not too late to hit the restart button on our social media usage. Going without social media isn’t as bad as it might sound. If unplugging completely isn’t a good fit it can be a matter of moving from Facebook to a new and more responsibly run app of one’s own choosing. We all hold the power to call Facebook on their bullshit. We hold the power to delete.
Artwork:
Facebook, the forever data.
