I know many of you (about a third of my readers) get their "new post" alerts from Facebook and I want those readers to know that I will be deleting my Knitionary Facebook page. If I can find a way to pause it, I will, and then probably delete it altogether in 2021. I have also disabled my Instagram and deleted my personal Facebook account. If you're not on social media, you're probably thinking, pfft, who cares? But some of you might be wondering why, and I'd like to share my decision process.

Three years ago my mother was gravely ill and spending time with her was my priority. In order to do that I had to eliminate all non-essentials from my life. One of the non-essentials I eliminated was reading my social media feeds. I continued to post daily on my Knitionary Facebook knitting page but would leave right after the post. That took only a few minutes a day and I enjoyed it. A year later, mother passed away, and slowly, and hopefully also thoughtfully, I brought back a few of those "non-essentials". Some things I missed very much and bringing them back was comforting, but others, like social media, was not missed at all. I continued to post on my knitting page, occasionally post on my personal page, posting a few times a month on IG, and always leaving immediately. Even with those quick appearances I couldn't help but see some of my feed and I saw derision and division. I felt too many things were distorted, amplified, inaccurate and cruel. I often did not feel good when I was on Facebook or Instagram and wondered, what am I doing here?

A few days ago, my daughter-in-law asked that I watch "The Social Dilemma" on Netflix. I did. I was stunned. I was shocked. And it was the tipping point for me. If I had been having second thoughts about my involvement in social media, here was the evidence I needed that it was not good for me. I highly recommend this documentary. It shares information that we've all heard before but presented it in a way that made it hard for me to ignore any longer. If you don't have Netflix, perhaps there is another way to view it? At the end of the documentary they interviewed several of the key contributors (all were either creators, enhancers, and/or visionaries of social media) and they ALL have already taken these 4 steps:

--They have removed themselves from all social media.

--They do not allow their children to be on any social media.

--They have removed all news apps from their phone.

--They have removed all notifications from their phone--no pushes, beeps or vibrations.

The reasons why these mavens of social media have taken these 4 steps are numerous and the documentary explains the reasons well. Two main points I took away were:

--The alarming amount of personal information that is harvested and subsequently used to manipulate the user. This can be avoided and built out of the model, but that is not done because of their personal financial gain and influential gain over users, and is in fact getting more personal and more manipulative.

--The purposefully built-in addictive nature of social media to keep us coming back, or stop us from even leaving. This can be avoided and built out of the model, but that is not done because of their financial gain, and is instead getting more and more creepily addictive. 

The above is loathsome obviously, but my main reason for leaving is a little different: social media does not enhance my life; too often it does not truthfully inform me and too often it does not entertain me well. Given that, plus the 2 points above, why would I stay? As for my personal connections, they can be successfully fostered in other ways.

Consequently, I'm on a digital clutter clean up. I have deleted a dozen apps on my phone and decided to delete/disable/archive my social media accounts. It's an ongoing battle to keep my email box lightened up and I'm quick with the unsubscribe option. If I like something and there is an option to receive an email once a month or once a week, I take that option. If that option is unavailable, I unsubscribe from anyone who emails daily. I'll continue to pop onto Ravelry to view patterns and yarn, but I've never been involved in a forum except if I'm testing a pattern, so I'm unfazed by any shenanigans going on over there. Pinterest is fairly innocuous to me. I'm on it a few times a year to search out an idea so I'll keep that. I know I have a Twitter account but I don't remember how to log in. Years ago a male enhancement site attacked my Twitter which was a mess to clean up, and consequently I put in so many log-in precautions that it's now too complicated for me to get on. I will continue to write my knitting blog because I love connecting with the knitting world. I will continue to follow my favorite knitting, cooking, political, decorating and gardening blogs, but unfollowed them if they were plastered with (too many) ads. I certainly sound picky, don't I? But why not--it's my time after all.

If you would like to follow Knitionary, there are a number of ways that I know of:

--Subscribe by email (see the box on the upper right side of the blog).

--Use a blog reader app such as Bloglovin' (that's what I use) or Feedly.

--Bookmark my page and check in weekly or monthly. I generally post 4x a month.

As for Knitionary gathering personal information on you, I wouldn't even know how to do it if I wanted to. I have never looked at my list of followers by email and/or apps, don't know how many I have or who they are. I do check my volume stats because I'm curious if a post has been popular or not, but it doesn't really change what I write about because this blog is simply a fun and creative outlet for me. I hope you like it too. 💗 

As I post this, I'm heading over to FB to delete and archive. If you still see me there and it's not archived, it's because I can't figure out how to do it.😕

Oh, and that picture above is something that just arrived in the mail this morning. Hudson and West designed a slouch with mini skeins using their new yarn, Weld. It's such a nice way to sample yarn. I'm also working on two test knits right now, one is for me, an adult cardigan designed by Anke of Ankestrick and the other is a child's jacket by Lisa of Froginette designs. Some knitting posts will follow!

To make a comment, scroll down if on the blog or click here. Take care friends. Be well. Be happy. Kristen