I’m signing off

In less than a week, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the new President of the United States of America. In the run-up to that moment, many influential figures, including Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, have reached out to the new administration in the form of political support, donations and even potential bribery of the American voter.

Floodgates

Despite the fact that there is literally an ocean between us and the US, we are already feeling the consequences. One of them is that social media companies are adjusting their policies. X did this before, shortly after Musk acquired the platform. But now Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook and Whatsapp, is also going in the same direction. Earlier, Meta announced it will adjust its moderation policies. This change allows for women to be portrayed as ‘objects’ and queer people to be ‘mentally disturbed’. Consequence-free.

As if that wasn’t enough, Zuckerberg explained in a podcast how he thinks companies are being flooded with “feminine energy” and that “diversity policy has gone too far”.

Ownership

Xenophobia is everywhere. Hate speech is everywhere. Conspiracy theories are everywhere. But never before has it been possible for two people from those communities to abuse their technology in the name of ‘free speech’ on this scale and with this reach. The space in which we communicate with our networks has fallen prey to socially awkward money wolves. The irony.

Air

Yes, social media have become an important part of our lives. But that doesn’t make them indispensable. It’s not like all the oxygen disappears from the atmosphere when we delete our accounts. If we really want to, we can do without them. There was life before social media. And (at least for now) there will be life after social media.

And that makes me wonder: do I still want to use platforms that we feel are inescapable, that are also managed by obscenely rich white men who play with human rights as if they were luxury goods?

Chance

My honest answer to that question is “no”. That’s why I’ve made a decision. On the day Trump is inaugurated, I will stop using Meta’s services. I’ve already stopped using Facebook and X (then Twitter). Following that, I will also permanently delete my Instagram and WhatsApp accounts on January 20th.

Yes, I’m fully aware that I will not change Meta and X on my own. But what I do know is that nothing will happen if I stay. So I’m stepping out of the hypnotic and malicious echo chambers and into the real world. Where there’s no ‘Silicon Valley Wizard’ behind the curtain. With at least a chance of a level playing field.

For those of you who are interested: I’m going to start writing a newsletter. If you’d like to be kept informed of my adventures as an entrepreneur, feel free to sign up here.

I’m looking forward to the empty space. And to the possibilities for genuine contact.

This is Joey, signing off.