I was greeted on my birthday a few days ago by friends posting on my Facebook wall who were all sending me good will. I scrolled down the page to see what all I had put on there to find that I have not posted anything since 2014. I was not shocked by this because I have had it in my head for years that Facebook is dead. Yet, it is the social media that everyone and their grandmother (literally) has. However, I find that many of the networks members have jumped ship and only use Facebook sparingly. Most on my friend's list post infrequently and only get on to celebrate birthdays and talk with relatives. So why have so many of us fallen out of love with Facebook? That answer may not be the same for everyone, but at least from what I can see these are the top five reasons we have all grown to hate Facebook.

This doesn’t seem like it would be a bad thing, but for many it is a real issue. Many take on another persona when online that others may not agree with, specifically family. When you post or are tagged in something, everyone ends up seeing it and can subsequently judge you for it. Many don’t want to defend their actions to their friends or loved ones, and just end up not sharing and moving to another medium where they feel they can express themselves without being judged by everyone they know. This also goes for those people who don’t take on an online persona, but people whose relatives and friends don’t truly know them, and end up judging them as well because of this. It is because of this fact that I think many stop posting much and thus stop using the services, but is the main reason that many don’t delete their Facebook because it is an easy way to find and connect with people.

2. Spam:

Facebook is full of links and articles and content from all over the internet. For many, their feed consists mainly of cooking videos, .gifs, quizzes to find out which power ranger you are (I'm the red one), and a whole lot of other stuff that is not actual posts about what these people are actually doing. While these items have a place, it is hard to say that you are connecting with people on there when all they post are pictures of cats and song lyrics. It can be hard and annoying to sift through if you are actually looking for anything substantial. As well, there are always the games that are linked through Facebook that people play. These games are microtransaction laden, and if you don’t want to pay your own cold hard cash to play them, you need to bug your friends for help. The games themselves are a topic for a separate rant, but they result in the same thing which is spam. Junk on the news feed and in the inbox that just are frustrating to deal with which makes people just not want to even log in.

3. Abuse:

Cyber bullying is something that we have all come to be familiar with, and a great place for people to do this is on Facebook. People can again find just about anyone, and because they are safe and secure behind a screen and keyboard, can harass people. This is more of a reason for younger users to get off the site but is a sad reason for why many chose to stay away.

While this can be lumped in with spam I feel that it warrants its own category. Much like abuse, people feel that from behind the glow of their computer they can say and do whatever they want without repercussions. Many take advantage of this by going on politically charge tirades. From the diehard liberals to the staunch conservatives and everything in between, many don’t fear to share what they think is wrong with the way the country is run. This always ends in fighting between people in the comments or presumably in the chat, and leaving the rest of us scratching our heads. Don’t get me wrong, I think political expression is important and vital. However, many use Facebook as a portal of hate-driven politics where they can rally support for their side while trying to provoke the other. It is so prevalent now due to the election and is even being used by the candidates to help their campaigns. For those who prefer to handle their politics another way and don’t enjoy seeing all the fighting, it is a big reason why many don’t want to log on.

5. Constant Layout and Format Changes:

Facebook is an evolving entity that tries to improve itself for its users. However, it makes it hard for the casual user when things change as much as they seem to on Facebook. I totally understand the need for it, and frankly it is very similar to what it was like when it first grew to be popular, but people like consistency and ease of use. They don’t like change. Just look at New Coke…

Facebook won’t be around forever, but for right now it looks to be around for a long time. After it goes the way of MySpace, we will all remember it for the good and bad. As it stands it is one of the greatest means of mass communication, advertisement, and connection with others locally and on a global scale. It helps keep families together, plan parties, share pictures and videos and so much more. It has let many in the world express their feelings and thoughts openly and aloud many others to read them. Facebook has a lot going for it, but for many it is outweighed by what is wrong with it. With so much other competition it is easy for people to find what social media helps them express themselves best. But they will always begrudgingly come back to the service they have grown to hate time and time again because it is still pretty great.