Official Social Media Statement

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After much thought and consideration, and as an advocate of Mental Health Awareness; I decided in March 2021  to walk away from Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, TikTok and Snapchat, until these platforms take action to provide a safer environment for all their users.

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I still use LinkedIn and IMDB.

 

With concerns about the serious effects of social media being largely ignored by these huge global corporations; I decided to address these serious issues by changing my own practices, and ‘unplugging’.  I’ve never felt better.

 

For the record:

 

I DO want to use all the latest communication tools and developments which enable me to interact with the wider world.

 

I DO wish to connect with my clients as directly as possible – without this interaction being unduly controlled by third parties.

 

I DO want to be able to trust external platforms to provide their services in a clear and transparent way that does not hide their true commercial functions or revenue streams.

 

I would only use platforms and services that do their very best to protect users from harassment, harm and manipulation.

 

I DO NOT want to participate on platforms that use visitor data in sneaky, unpublished ways.

 

I DO NOT want to participate on platforms that use algorithms that target users with fake news, biased ‘fact checking’, negative content, or extreme viewpoints in order to manipulate minds, and boost engagement, clicks and shares.

 

Like any other highly addictive pastime, I wish platforms would design their product to minimise the risk of overuse and encourage healthy daily usage patterns.

 

The choice of platforms I choose to use for communications will change over time, as new platforms and new services become available.  I will however, ALWAYS take the above considerations and concerns into account when making my future decisions.

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Curtis Rivers

(March 2021)