Sam Trenholme’s blog
Facebook is changing for the worse
November 22, 2025
I discuss how Facebook has changed for the worse.How Facebook has changed
I miss the old Facebook. For years, Facebook was a place where I was able to get in touch with old friends I lost contact with over the years: My tomboy best friend in third grade who I lost contact with because I was moving every year. That girl who I was best friends with for one week in high school until she moved out of state. That high school buddy I was once in a band with. My first kiss. The young pretty girls I lived when I started dating my then future wife. My wife’s cousin who we visited one time.
All of these are real world examples of people who I am in touch with today on Facebook. This is what Facebook shined at: It was that place which served the same purpose that sending Christmas cards to everyone served in the 20th century. It was that place where I would be in touch again with those people I have known over the years and lost touch with for whatever reason.
Facebook no longer serves this purpose. It used to be that my timeline was filled with pictures posted by old friends with their kids or of their vacations.
These days, my Facebook timeline is filled with viral content from
content machines, often times AI generated and often times inaccurate
and/ It would be nice if Facebook had a setting like “only show content
from friends on my timeline”. But, since Facebook’s business model is
to maximize engagement, and since engagement is more important to them
than having me stay in touch with my friends, that setting is not
available.