After releasing a video of my song “Dear Mr. Washington” for President’s Day, I have shared it on my Facebook page 8 times and on my Facebook artist page 5 times, alternating between a link to my blog, the Substack release, and the video on YouTube. I wrote the song in Washington D.C. after a two night stay there, basing the lyrics of the song from the words used by George Washington in his farewell address. Considering the state of our political system, I figured it would be a pretty relevant release for the holiday, but after two days and 13 Facebook updates, the YouTube video has 8 views and there is not a single like on any of the updates… not a single one except my own on the first release.
Now, I’m used to spending hours of my time on an essay, song, video, or other exclamation from the depths of my soul only to be completely and utterly ignored on social media. It may just be that I’m cursed to not fit into the algorithm. Perhaps it’s the by-product of my reluctance to embrace “normal” society. Nevertheless, this is getting ridiculous.
Now it may very well be that the more than 3500 people who have agreed to be my friends on Facebook really don’t give a single shit about anything that I have to say. Even though many people tell me in the real world that they really like a poem I shared or a song I played or an idea that I had, perhaps they’re all just lying to my face and just humoring me so that I don’t feel bad for being such a nimrod. However, that it could also be that the algorithm doesn’t really work and Facebook is as evil an organization as some have claimed it is.
Granted, the subject matter is rather controversial in that it critiques the American political system, which many Americans have been very well trained to support and protect well beyond the limits of common sense. So there’s a very good chance that neither Facebook or YouTube are reluctant to make such a notion available to common consumers. But I think America needs to hear this song, and I think it’s pathetic that not a single person that knows me is allowed to hear it.
I’ve scheduled updates regarding the song through my website and Substack every day for the next two weeks. There are a number of things that I appreciate about Facebook, but what I most want from the free service that seems to be expoiting me is to be able to engage with the other people who are being expoited. If Facebook won’t even allow me to be expoited fairly, I may finally decide to disengage altogether.
Perhaps there is another corner of the Internet that actually allows and appreciates free speech. It’s probably not YouTube (which may inspire another rant), and it may not even be Substack, but perhaps somewhere out in the cloud there’s a place where what we share can actually be seen by people. Until then, it sucks that Facebook sucks so much.