Stepping away from Facebook

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to delete the Facebook app from my mobile devices. Besides being too much temptation to procrastinate, the shady “news” practices and generally evil attitude of Mark Z. were getting on my last nerve. This was a tough decision; I was a very early adopter, way back when it was being rolled out campus by campus and you could only connect with other users from the same email domain. It is also my main connection with far-flung friends, family, and former students. But now that is going to change a bit. Here’s how:


Facebook is still on my laptop, but I am only going to be checking it once a day. So time-sensitive messages will have to get to me by other means. My nearest and dearest know that I detest telephones and voicemail with a white hot passion, so please use that as a last resort, and be prepared to wait while I steel myself for the ordeal of replying.

Better alternatives: Fb Messenger, text, email. Even better: buy some stamps and write me an actual letter. Stamps are so cool.

If your main interest is my professional stuff, follow my Jo Paoletti, Author page instead of friending me. If you think you might need to contact me for collaboration or a recommendation, I am on LinkedIn. For those nice people who said they will miss my pithy and insightful posts on Facebook, you can find a smattering of those on Twitter and Instagram. (Yes, I know Facebook owns Instagram, but the political air is less rancid there.)

Finally, I promise to blog more regularly here in the future. See ya around!