I published fake news on Facebook, back in the day. When I was in college, my friend and I had each started dating other guys, but our Facebook profiles still said Single. Awkward.
We couldn't just remove Single as a relationship status because it would post an update to our friends and family, and people would assume we were in relationships. That would be even more awkward. Why? Because we were 19 and hadn't dated anyone before. This was not a conversation we wanted to have.
So, my friend came up with a genius, devious plan. We “got engaged” to each other on the app. That post went out to everyone. People who knew us understood we were not engaged or even dating in real life. Then, a week later, once we “were tired of the joke,” we removed the relationship status, leaving it blank, the desired result.
Facebook back then felt way more casual. You would see jokes from friends, local events, updates about people's actual lives. “The algorithm” to make us addicted to social media, depressed, and buy things hadn't kicked in yet.
But even back then, I got pushback. An adult reached out to me to let me know a joke like that fake engagement could affect my future job prospects. “People are going to think you're gay!”
And, you know, she had a point, at that time there was less acceptance of being out and gay in the workplace even in liberal parts of the US.
I remember feeling like I didn't understand what Facebook was supposed to be, how it could be this platform to help keep in touch with your friends and also be spied on by future employers. How could one possibly split the difference between those two things?
Fifteen years later, Facebook continues to be many things to many people, but not particularly a good space for friends to engage with each other. It's a business platform. It's a crucial communication channel (Messenger and WhatsApp). It's a channel for fake news and bigotry (and always has been).
While my joke engagement fake news didn’t hurt anyone, most of the fake news posted on Facebook is harmful, bigoted, and reduces peoples’ understanding of the world.
