I quit Facebook in April 2018 after debating it for a few months. I never really looked back. In December 2022, God clearly impressed upon me that I was supposed to go back on Facebook. I did so only because I felt thoroughly and repeatedly convicted I was supposed to do so.

I shared mostly clever and pointed political content and memes, especially related to topics most people won’t touch online for fear of offending their friends. (I made it clear with a pinned post that I shared political commentary so people should expect that if they chose to friend me or follow me.) I think the main point of my being there was to encourage people to know they aren’t alone in what they are thinking and perceiving. (Remember the battle imagery I had before I returned?) Hopefully I gave some of them a shot of courage to speak up in ways they wouldn’t before.

I connected with some people from real life and reconnected with online friends which was the bright part of it. I let God bring people to me rather than seek people out and so I just let it unfold that way.

After being on Facebook over a year, I longed to be done. A few months ago I started asking the Lord if I could please leave. I didn’t want to be on there any longer, but I would stay if He wanted me to. I continued to ask and post.

During that time of wanting to leave it was becoming clear I wasn’t doing much good beyond what I had already done. My posts were getting very little interaction. Either people weren’t seeing them (because they were being suppressed) or friends were afraid/unwilling to interact with them in a way their friends could see. I pushed up hard against the fence as much as I could on certain topics without going so far that I knew I would have my account instantly removed. I am sure I was on various lists for bringing up unacceptable topics and pushing the envelope of what is acceptable.

Which makes what happened really ironic considering all of the taboo subjects I had brought up over almost a year and a half.

On May 30 I started to post a graphic of an upside down American flag – a recognized symbol of distress.

This is what happened.

This was a brief discussion I had with friends on there.

That pretty much sealed the deal for me. I didn’t sense God was telling me to leave but nor did I get clear instructions to stay. I decided to start the process to delete my account. If God wants me to stay, I hope He will make it clear. It’s been almost two weeks since I quit and my account will be deleted July 6. I haven’t had any indication I’m doing the wrong thing.

I have no interest in detailing again all the reasons to hate Facebook. But I do loathe that platform and what they have done to this country. What they have done to small business owners. What they have done to individuals. What they have done to families. What they have allowed to be done to children via their platform (and Instagram).

I don’t understand why conservatives and/or Christians stay on there. I mean I do know why, but I will never understand it. If those two groups left, it would hasten the demise of a truly evil entity in our midst. There are so many other options available now. It’s incredibly sad that people allow themselves to be abused and will self-censor out of fear of losing access to a platform that uses and manipulates them every single day.

Yes, I have very strong opinions about this.

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash