The decline

Over the last month or so, I have seen my weekly page views decrease dramatically.

I think this is because Facebook has once again changed its algorithms. There are things that keep showing up in my feed where I'm like, "I don't care to see it. That's not even funny!" But then somehow I will find a post that I haven't seen, and then I'm like, "Why didn't you show that to me? That was a better post."

(As an aside that's only tangentially related, I was waiting to check out at Walmart this week when I saw this conversation:

Woman (motions to her purchases): I want all of it.

Cashier: (silence)

Woman: I don't think you got my joke. I said I want all of it.

Cashier: (chuckles politely)

That was, like, the worst "joke" I have ever heard. No wonder the cashier didn't laugh!)

It was nine years ago today that I first joined Facebook. Then around 2011 and 2012, I loved Facebook and would go on it all the time. Well, I didn't necessarily love it, but I was addicted to it.

Then over the years, it got worse and worse. They invented the "share" button, and Facebook became a place for old ladies to share fake news and recipes.

They had an "unsubscribe from comments and likes" feature, but then they nonsensically got rid of it. They still have an "unsubscribe" feature, but it's pointless, because I still see posts from people and pages I know I unsubscribed from. Even from pages or people I don't know or like.

Now, with their algorithm shift, this blog might be the only reason I still use Facebook. It's where I get my blog traffic. But Facebook isn't fun anymore. Whereas I used to look forward to it, now I don't necessarily find excuses to get on it. I'm just tired of getting on the computer and getting sucked into pointless stuff. Part of this is because of my own life choices and priorities, but some of it is because of how terrible Facebook has gotten.

At one point, I remember thinking Facebook was much too big and popular to join MySpace in a virtual graveyard. It's still a long way from death, but it's on its way there.

And I don't feel bad for Facebook, because it's their own changes that made it worse. They're digging their own grave.

But don't worry, I will keep posting my blog to Facebook. Until something better comes along.