The Cultivariable group on Facebook will close and I thought it was appropriate to take at least some of the discussion over here. For context, here’s what @bill wrote:
I will be leaving Facebook at the end of the month and, as a result, I will close down this group.
This has nothing to do with the group itself, which is something that I have enjoyed a great deal. In fact, it has kept me on Facebook longer than I otherwise would have remained.
Over the past few years, I have been cutting the ties between Cultivariable and big tech, because big tech is expanding at a rate that seems destined to consume all alternatives, eroding the free speech ethos of the Internet.
Facebook is an opportunity cost. Because it exists, is easy, and has great reach, I use it instead of developing alternatives, as we all do to some degree. I like the Facebook platform, but I don’t much like Facebook the company. While there is a cost to leaving, it is a cost that I can afford and perhaps can afford more easily now than in the future.
Facebook has an option to put a group on hold, so that it remains readable and can be taken out of mothballs in the future. That is the option that I will use, so you will still be able to come here and find old posts. That also means that I can change my mind and reopen the group if I later decide I have made a mistake.
The Cultivariable website has a forum and, if you want to keep having the kinds of discussions that we have here, I encourage you to join. I know that most of you won’t and I don’t fault you for that. That is the cost of leaving Facebook. Nothing else is as easy and comprehensive.
https://forum.cultivariable.com/
See you around the Internet, but not on Facebook.
Edit: None of this is intended to constitute any sort of judgement about anyone else’s choice or to persuade you to see the situation as I do. In fact, I assume that most people here like Facebook and have no intention of quitting it. I debated whether or not to give any reason at all for my choice, since I try to keep from inflicting my political views on my customers, but it would be weird to just shut down the group with no explanation.