I’m not planning to delete Facebook

Calls to abandon the social-media leviathan come from a place of male privilege, Hayley Juhl writes.

The #Delete Facebook movement, in which users were encouraged to abandon the socialmedia leviathan in the face of privacy scandals, came from a position of male privilege.

Calls to back away from Facebook have echoed for years, but privacy warriors doubled down this month after reports a British datamining firm, Cambridge Analytica, had used Facebook to gather personal data that it then used on behalf of political clients.

The outrage — much of it on Facebook and rival Twitter — demanded that people expunge their Facebook data, delete the app from their devices and erase their accounts.

It’s an easy call from the seat of a high horse, surrounded by a support system, strong networking contacts and careers that put one in the company of real live adults every day. It’s a reasonable crusade when one is armed with a good long-distance phone plan and a business that includes an attractive brick-and-mortar location.

Gender-specific behaviours are a reality of Facebook. A Facebook analysis of more than 1.5 million statuses indicated that men use social media primarily to seek news, information or to meet people.

For their part, women have weaponized Facebook. No one expects a woman to stand in the middle of her street yelling #MeToo, but standing in the middle of Facebook and yelling it was empowering. The whispered sisterhood of “avoid that guy” became a worldwide rallying

Shutting down Facebook could mean cutting herself off from her support networks.

cry that virtually guaranteed safety in numbers. It is less a networking or cruising opportunity, and more a lifeline.

The stay-at-home mom: Preoccupied by the time-consuming business of building a family, she might find the only way to connect with loved ones — with any other adult — is by scanning status updates. She is more likely to be the designated kin-keeper in a traditional couple, tasked by custom with sharing personal photos and information, sending out and accepting invitations to social events and monitoring the lives of family members and close friends.

The female entrepreneur: She is likely to have a home-based business, an Etsy shop or offer personal services. Word of mouth is vital to these small businesses and Facebook provides a dynamic and attractive way for them to acquire and communicate with clients.

The lower-income woman: The cost of a land line or cellphone plan might be outside her means, effectively cutting her off from speaking with family outside the city — unless she has a Wi-Fi-enabled tool like Facebook that makes voice calls and video chats accessible. Single parents are more likely to be women, and the danger of social isolation, especially for those with younger children and no familial support system nearby, is very real.

The woman who needs to reach out: There are more than 160 million Facebook groups, and beyond online garage sales and meme generators, the side-effect of many is awareness and community-building. In its first two weeks, a Facebook group created to introduce women to each other in a Montreal neighbourhood attracted 260 members. They weren’t going to knock on doors till they found a friend, and the group recognized the seeming impossibility of going up to someone in a park or a bookstore and hoping a friendship will bloom.

According to2015 Pew Research data, more women than men — 76 per cent versus 66 per cent — use Facebook. Women post twice as often as men and are connected with eight per cent more people, the research shows. Men are more likely to be found on business networking site LinkedIn, on Google+ and YouTube. Turning their backs on Facebook would have few significant consequences.

It’s a double-edged sword for women at risk of isolation. A study appearing in Computers in Human Behavior suggests people who are lonely are more likely to disclose personal information online. But shutting down Facebook could mean cutting herself off from her support networks, passion projects and clients.

Perhaps, then, the solution should be to #Educate-Facebook, not delete it.

Hayley Juhl is a copy editor at the Montreal Gazette.