The Hardest Goodbye

I sent a message to all of my contacts on WhatsApp that I was deleting my account. About 24 hours later, I did just that.

I didn't have many contacts, to be fair, and I have lots of ways in which we can keep in touch. Quitting WhatsApp wasn't a hardship.

What was hard was saying goodbye to the hundreds of people who followed me on Instagram. Last Thursday, I posted a message stating my reasons for quitting my Meta apps. I said that I'd be closing my account within a few days.

I downloaded my data from Instagram, and as soon as I had confirmation that the download was completed, I pulled the trigger.

More than 4,400 photos and more than 14 years of memory.

I mean, I still have the photos, or most of them, anyway. There will be some that I shot on the spur of the moment, strictly with the intention of sharing them on that photo app. The rest of them have been stored in my photo database, on a couple of external hard drives.

For anyone who's ever wanted to reach me, I have an e-mail address that appears in the right-hand margin of this blog.

But that's it. As of last night, I have no more Meta accounts. Here is the final post on my account:

Though saying goodbye to Instagram, with whom I've had an account since before Zuck got his hands on it, was the hardest thing to do, I feel better knowing that I'm no longer supporting a corporation that supports a Fascist felon.

Change my mind? No way.