When I first got on the internet during its middle years, I tried to sign up for every site I could. I wanted to get discovered as an author — or rather, I wanted to get my books discovered. I didn’t care if I got known, but along the way I made a lot of friends, especially on the defunct site of Gather (sort of a Facebook for writers), even sold some books, but I never did manage to dig myself out of obscurity.
Still, I kept on for many years. Mostly I blogged, but I also had my blog automatically posted to various sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Goodreads, and Facebook. That made it easy to keep up with people. Then about seven years ago, Facebook banned my blog, said it was spam. They wouldn’t let anyone post the link and in fact, erased all my posts from their site, every single one, all the way back to the beginning of my Facebook endeavor. I found a way around that by posting a link to this blog to another blog, then posted that link. A couple of years later, I merely shared a post by a conservative black commentator and was excoriated for being a racist. Enough was enough, so I stopped all Facebook activity. Once or twice a year I’d try to post a link, but I always got that same message about the blog being spam, so it’s been years since I actually posted anything.
Wow, except for today! Out of curiosity, I checked to see if my blog was still banned, and I was able to post a link. Does that mean I’ll go back to Facebook? I don’t know. A good friend was banned and his account was deleted with no notice and no recourse, so it’s not as if being able to post is a good reason to post, if you know what I mean.
I like that my main means of communicating online is through this blog. (Well, that and emailing, but email is via the internet, not on the internet, so I’m not sure that counts.) Being in one location keeps me from hopping all over the place looking for comments that might appear elsewhere. And anyway, Facebook no longer allows blog links to be automatically posted directly to the site — I have to go and manually post it. Not a problem in itself, but since I have a problem with Facebook itself (their allowing me to post links to this blog again in no way makes what they did to me okay) it would take a bit of adjustment. But maybe. Someday. Occasionally.
Anyway, thanks for communicating with me here! Even if you just read this, that’s communication too, which is more than anyone can expect. Hope for, perhaps, but not expect.
Enquiring minds always want to know, so no, that’s not my cat. This photo was taken when I was visiting my sister several years ago but it seemed apropos of the theme of this post.
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Pat Bertram is the author of Grief: The Inside Story – A Guide to Surviving the Loss of a Loved One.
Bertram's Blog 
January 15, 2026 at 10:55 am
I’ve come to believe social media is both a blessing and a curse! Like you, I originally signed up with various platforms because I believed to be successful with my writing I needed lots of exposure. I enjoyed the interactions…at least, most of them…but found they took up a lot of my writing time. I justified it by believing they were forms of writing, too.
As the years passed, I realized there weren’t a lot of advantages coming out of the time I spent on the internet, other than the actual socializing. Zoom and email have become a necessary part of my communication tools. I don’t really think of them as social media. But I stepped away from everything else except Facebook and my blog, and eventually even stopped stressing about being regular with blog posts. I like Facebook for being able to keep track of family and friends, and I like blogging because it allows me to write as much or as little as I want on any subject that catches my fancy.
The disadvantage of Facebook and similar platforms is the constant exposure to politics and the news of world unrest. It’s unsettling to get the constant barrage of ugliness about which I can do nothing. It adds to daily stress, and who really wants/needs that?!?
I’m the webmaster for our church’s website and admin for its FB page, so I can’t completely ignore the internet. But I’ve become very choosey about how I spend my personal online time. I subscribe to specific blogs and mailing lists, and follow individuals whose input I enjoy. It works for me. 🙂
January 15, 2026 at 12:16 pm
I feel the same about Facebook, that it just adds to stress. For a while, I followed a few people who posted interesting articles that put a different face on the news, but even that got a bit depressing. I am sticking to my resolution to stay away from the news. It doesn’t make any difference anyway since there is nothing we can do about any of it.
I do appreciate talking to you here. Makes the internet and the world seem friendly.
January 15, 2026 at 12:34 pm
The only political info I receive on FB is from Heather Cox Richardson’s posts. She’s a political historian and provides documentation for everything she reports, so is about as unbiased as I’m likely to find. It’s still depressing news though. 😦