I just left the following post on all of my Facebook pages. I'm posting now instead of my usual Monday post because I want this to be seperate from my usual playlist posts.
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Friends, it is with a less-than-heavy heart that I inform
everyone that I am leaving Facebook. Myself, my band, my radio station. All are
leaving. Just as when the world’s most stoned multi-billionaire decided to lead
what was once twitter into Nazi territory, I have decided my time here is done,
for the same reason. I know I walked away once before and eventually came back
and I’ll admit it’s possible that will happen again, but not while it is under
its current management. Blending AI and Newsmax to create the newsfeeds you
will see on your page is the final straw for me. I suppose you can’t expect
better from a site originally started up by a guy who wanted to stalk his ex.
If I come back without Meta making some changes feel free to
make fun of me. I will deserve it.
I’m not overreacting, although some will certainly think I
am. You are of course welcome to your thoughts. I’d bet however that your kids
don’t get death threats for simply existing. Or that the news feeds that come
to you is written by people diametrically opposed to everything you stand for
and believe.
This will be my final post on the site. It takes 30 days for
Facebook to take someone’s page down, because they want you coming back. Welp,
I know a trick around that and am going to use it. You will still be able to
see my past posts until August 31, 2026 but there will be nothing after today.
I will pin this post so that you see it first, but some of you will never see
it.
That’s Facebook for you. Algorithms can be programmed with
bias. It's not even all that hard.
Those of you who know me in real life already know how to
find me. And if you don’t remember the e-mail address I’ve had for over 3 decades,
contact one of my high-school friends I’m still in touch with. It won’t be that
hard, there are only two.
Family knows how to reach me as well, even though so few of
us are left on the West Coast or even the continent.
Facebook’s one saving grace for me has always been that this
is where most of my college friends talk to one another. I imagine that will
decrease going forward for me and I’m saddened by that. I won’t sugarcoat it –
I will miss that. I wish nothing but love and happiness for all of you.
I am not done with social media, not by a long shot. I’m on
Bluesky, tumblr, and counter social (which is where I spend most of my private
social media time). I love counter social because there are no ads, no spurious
notifications, and people genuinely talk to one another. I have worries about
Bluesky, but I did about twitter pre-Musk as well and it’s where most of my
twitter and musician friends wound up. Tumblr isn’t much for interacting but
I’ve found great artists there. I have the same handle at all three sites: Animeraider.
I’m on LinkedIn under my real name, but doing social media
there just feels weird.
I’m not hiding. If you want to find me, I’ve told you how.
I have really big news I’ll be posting in September, after
I’m gone from Facebook, so if you want to know what’s going on in my life I do
recommend my various social media spots.
I also have my blog: https://whatthefrackiswrongwithyou.blogspot.com/
I will of course still be making music – a lot of it – and
it can all be found at most of the usual places for streaming, as well as my Bandcamp
page: https://animeraider.bandcamp.com/
Feel free to follow any of them. I have a Soundcloud page but it needs an
overhaul that I will get to in short order. I'll post about it on my blog when the time is right.
I will still be posting about my work and giving advance
notices of releases in the places where I do social media and my blog, all
noted above. I expect that not having Facebook in my arsenal of advertising
will have the exact same effect that it has now. Not a damned thing.
I may even revive my long-dead Patreon page. Their leader is
a fellow musician and lives in the same city I do.
I create Spotify Playlists every week of only new music.
I’ve made a lot of them, and no one has ever paid for a spot. I discover them
and not the other way around. I comingle artists with 5 followers with those
who have 5,000,000. They’re all here: https://open.spotify.com/user/6tn61v5rzwq9nq9r0sj6yqcrt?si=2d34bcd3c29141f3
I have an internet radio station called Radio Free
California, which plays music from the past year found on these playlists. I
play the most recent playlist in order on Wednesdays but otherwise it’s all
random EXCEPT for 10pm PST, when I play 10 at 10 – I pick a year at random and
play 10 songs from that year. There is an app for it available at the google
play store (sorry, no apple) or you can just go here: https://global.citrus3.com:2020/public/radiofreecalifornia
No DJ’s, no Commercials. Just music I like, in many genres.
I have this blog. I mention it again because I embed the
playlists for the week there, talk about some of the music I’ve selected, give
opinions about the news of the day, unload a number of swear words, and
sometimes give you something extra too. https://whatthefrackiswrongwithyou.blogspot.com/.
You’re more than welcome to yell at me over there.
That’s about it really. I have now lived in San Francisco
for longer than I have all other places in my life combined. I enjoy connecting
with people who have been important in my life – my two remaining high school
friends, my college friends, my musician friends, and everyone else spread out
from here to Europe to Asia and Australia. Even if we’re not hanging out in the
same places anymore all of you are important to me. Never forget that. I won’t.
For now though, I think I’d like to interact with people the
old-fashioned way; in person.
So long, and thanks for all the fish.
-Chris
And because I love you, here is the video I had commissioned after my fruitful trip to Frankfurt am Main last year.
