Since I have both a personal profile AND a (public) Page for my blog on Facebook, I can’t ignore the recent unsettling revelations concerning Cambridge Analytica’s harvesting of personal data from millioooooooons of FB accounts…And, while NOTHING would have changed the way I voted in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, I still find these revelations rather disturbing. I mean, I don’t want my data to be used by ANY entity for ANY reason…

I’m relieved that I never fell for any alluring quizzes and tests, which would have given some of those entities access not only to my own personal data but also to that of my FB friends. 👿

I also don’t play any games on FB (the candy crush game, etc.), and, most of the time, I ignore my FB friends who invite me to do this or that, or join this or that…

My life on FB is actually quite tame, although I’m fierce about protecting my own privacy and that of my family/friends. That said, I wasn’t always so careful: when I first joined FB, I innocently published quite a lot of cute photos of Stefano and me, our wedding, and other family photos. I subsequently deleted almost all of them, leaving only two (I think): 1. a hazy but beloved photo of Stefano and me kissing in the Arizona desert (the camera’s self-timer seemed to take forever, so we began laughing while keeping our lips locked…such a funny moment…), and 2. my profile photo, which is a photo of…you guessed it!…my (face) profile. Again, a bit on the fuzzy side (but it IS me!).

The only photos I publish on FB now are photos of my kitties. I can’t help myself…They are simply too cute (see our two 7-month-old kittens, sleepy Pandora on the left, Pixie on the right)…

Okay, let’s get back to the point of this post. Because of the big Cambridge Analytica and Facebook mess, a Tweeter movement called #DeleteFacebook has recently been encouraging people to delete their FB accounts.

I did think about it…about deleting…but I’ve decided not to go that far. The reason I’m going to stay on FB is simple: outreach. It’s perhaps the easiest way to keep in touch with my blog readers–well, with those who have FB accounts!–as well as reach out to people who, e.g., have just been diagnosed with MGUS or SMM or even MM (and other types of cancer, too, of course), and are freaking out, just as I did when I was first diagnosed.

Plus, I am co-administrator of two FB support groups (well, to be precise, I’ve semi-retired from the now-huge multiple myeloma support group that I founded years ago…It’s being administered by others, now). I’d really hate to fall out of touch with some of the people I’ve met in these groups…some, I’ve even met in person…

In sum, I’m not deleting anything. I just have to remember to update my FB privacy settings from time to time!  😎