Remember when owls were everywhere in popular media a few years ago? Now it seems to be turtles who are having a moment, and that’s great. Public awareness is invaluable for building investment in the future of these imperiled creatures, and social media, by all accounts, should be the ideal tool for that. Why, then, am I abandoning my TTB Facebook and Instagram accounts?
There was a time when Facebook served my purpose of building awareness for turtle rehabilitation and the species with which I work. As a small, self-sustaining nonprofit, my social media mission has always been one of public service, not brand engagement. I engage with the public online because my objective is to save lives and conserve these disappearing animals, and I am convinced that an informed populace is key to that mission. I have nothing to ask, nothing to sell, and nothing to prove. I am here in the service of turtles, not people—myself included.
Unfortunately, the Meta algorithm works against the ability to share important information with those who don’t have it. By steering users to content which mirrors their knowledge, interests and beliefs, it effectively creates echo chambers which have us preaching to the proverbial choir. So much for educational outreach!
It also demands compulsory posting. Quantity, not quality, is the currency that determines the reach any post has. Of course, social media was never designed for those of us not given to reducing nuanced concepts to sound bites, since scrolling and reading are often mutually exclusive. But Facebook and Instagram have become noise-filled, commercially driven spaces that increasingly seem to drown out and even subvert voices based on their posting frequency as opposed to their merit. Longer, less frequent content is often lost in the void, with everyone madly striving to meet the indeterminate quota of posts that will keep them on the radar screen…within their bubble, that is.
And for what? In terms of public engagement, Facebook has arguably become a mosh pit of unregulated input that empowers—emboldens—the least informed with the loudest voices, often at the expense of truth, meaningful dialogue or learning. It encourages subjective assumption and discourages respect and objectivity. And whether caused by the apps or a symptom of broader social dynamics, audience entitlement is on the rise. I have seen and felt it, both in my own interactions and in those of my colleagues.
I’ve also heard echoed the frustrations of working with Messenger. A communications app that actually makes it difficult to be aware of, find and access messages does not sit will with users on either side of the dialogue, but it’s especially damaging to the page owner who is always held responsible.
None of that makes for a worthwhile account holder experience. And now, capitulating to the new zeitgeist of disregulation and social/political darwinism, Zuckerberg has chosen to eliminate fact-checking and embrace the supposedly self-governing free speech frontier. What can we expect but further erosion of those qualities that once made our existence on this platform tolerable?
If the cost-benefit analysis of continued engagement with the platform was already clear, there’s one overarching reason to disengage that trumps them all. Meta’s support of an administration hell-bent on trashing what’s left of our natural environment must not go unanswered. It is the straw that has broken this turtle’s back. I’ve been staunchly politically neutral as a nonprofit, and my accounts are certainly a drop in the bucket but, as a conservationist, I would be complicit if I did not stand publicly against the irreversible decimation being inflicted on this country’s natural heritage—and the world, writ large—by the current rogue administration. And as the daughter of generation after generation of proud Republican naturalists who cherished this country and its Constitution, it is incumbent upon me to carry their torch. We are in the midst of the Sixth Great Extinction—it is happening—and I will not support self-serving oligarchs greasing the skids for its acceleration.
Out of respect for those who rely on them to find me or who need to reference any educational content within them, The Turtle’s Back Facebook and Instagram accounts will remain in place for now. But they will be inactive. All content creation and communication will take place here and via email and text. Many thanks to those who have supported my social media work over the years, and welcome back to the source!