My Social Media Timeline & Perspective
This page complements my About page on Flickr. It's primarily for my friends and family, from Alaska to Florida and points in between, who may wonder why I haven't been active on most social media, other than Flickr, since 2019. My history using social media and explanation for my break follow. My perspective on social media today was shaped, in part, by my experiences before social media. As I said earlier, when I was in my 20s and 30s, we met in real life; insta and selfie were not words, and influencer was not a job title.
My Social Media Timeline (1986 to 2024)
1983: I completed my UO BS Computer Science program and began working in IT (MIS) as a programmer. Several months after I started my job, Apple launched the Macintosh (Mac) after their "1984" advertisement during Super Bowl XVIII.
1986: I joined CompuServe.
1989: I joined AOL.
2003: I joined LinkedIn.
2008: I joined Facebook. For the next 11 years, I enjoyed interacting with family and friends.
2009: I joined Flickr. For the next 10 years, I used the platform primarily to back up my photos online.
2013: I joined Instagram @WalksInPortland and posted my walks photos there.
2014: I joined Twitter @WalksInPortland and posted photos during my walks.
2019: I changed my Twitter and Instagram handles to @PNWPhotoWalks to recognize the cities other than Portland where I was walking.
2019: When I saw that Facebook and Instagram were using methods to leverage negative emotions such as anger, fear, jealousy, and shame, I decided to no longer remain active on either platform.
2020: After I retired, I rebooted my LinkedIn account as read-only.
2021: I rebooted my Twitter account as read-only and started using X/Twitter lists to "follow" certain individuals and organizations.
Jan 2024: I started using my WalksInPortland handle again to promote what is positive about Portland. With tongue-in-cheek, it was my Posting-Positive-Portland-Past-&-Present-Photos-Phase. How's that for alliteration?
Jul 2024: I had the opportunity to give a shout-out to and about Portland in this 7/31/2024 article by PDXToday: Q+A: Take a walk in a Portland Photoblogger's shoes
Sep 2024: In my ongoing effort to boost Portland, I rebooted my WalksInPortland account on Instagram and started posting photos from my 2010–2024 walks in the metro area.
Oct 2024: I tried (trialed) Threads and then Bluesky. Based on my experience, I decided to continue with Bluesky @walksinportland.
My Perspective on Social Media Today
I try to stay informed about public interest subjects, but I don't rely on social media. I like well-written long-form journalism. I maintain a curated list of sources and strive for balance among all of my sources with political viewpoints.
I don't like to subscribe to any internet source where I know I'll be tracked. See my reasons below.
I disregard national and regional publications that I think exhibit strong media bias. I disregard journalists who do the same.
I also disregard individuals and publications that engage in outrage journalism (media, discourse) online, whether it's mainstream or not.
I try to avoid social media bubbles.
When needed, I tap into scholarly resources (academic libraries) and not-so-scholarly resources (Wikipedia) to learn about a subject and add reference information to my photos on Flickr.I don't understand why people continue to use social media platforms that monetize their personal data at the expense of their privacy. However, I understand why people want to be “liked” and have many followers. It's human nature.
When the dopamine hits become the primary reason for being extremely online, however, it can become an addiction. There is now a large body of behavioral health research on this subject.
I'm concerned about the adverse effects of platforms such as Instagram and TikTok on our youth. I recommend watching the docudrama film The Social Dilemma (2020) or the documentary film TikTok, Boom (2022) to understand why.
My professional work experience and education also led to my decision to unplug from most social media. During my career in IT, information management, data management, and metadata management were my specialized domains. In my University of Oregon MS graduate program, information design and information architecture were core focus areas.
In my work and my graduate studies, I saw the coupling of big data, artificial intelligence, mobile computing, and the Internet of Things leading to surveillance capitalism. The films I referenced above provide more information.
To my knowledge, none of my former employers ever exploited the data or metadata of individuals (patients, customers, consumers, or citizens) in this manner.
I encourage people to critically read the Terms of Service Agreements (TOS) for their service providers (social media platforms, search engines, web browsers, etc.). I still need to write a TOS agreement for this website.
While the USA has industry-specific and state-level data privacy and security laws, such as FISMA, HIPAA, SOX, and CCPA, I think we should also enact federal legislation similar to the European Union's General Data Protecton Regulation (GDPR). I tip my hat to the whistleblowers and legislators in the USA who are finally addressing this important matter.
I'm encouraged that the State of Oregon is finally taking steps to address data privacy. Starting in 2024, with the passage of House Bill 2052, all data brokers operating in Oregon must register with the Department of Consumer and Business Services to legally collect, license, or sell personal information.
Last updated: 11/23/2024