by Maggie Downs posted in Life

Following the news that data firm Cambridge Analytica improperly harvested data from Facebook users, many people are opting to leave the platform altogether. That includes some friends of mine.
I know several people who quit Facebook over the past couple days, and I know a few dozen more actively discussing it. It makes me terribly sad.
I?m under no illusion of privacy ? the moment I signed on for social media, I knew the things I post online would be up for grabs ? and I?m not under the mistaken belief that Facebook the corporation actually cares about its users.

 
I also know I won?t be able to quit. And here?s why:
After my son was born, when I struggled through the murkiest depths of postpartum depression, social media was my lifeline. I spent countless nights nursing in the dark, reaching out for human contact from the yellow rocking chair in the nursery. I found companionship from old friends who had been there and could offer words of encouragement, as well as new mom friends who were right there in the foxhole with me. With a quick scroll on my phone, I felt like I was a person who engaged with society again.

It?s so easy to dismiss social media as silly or superfluous, but just knowing that life existed outside the confines of my own baby blues-tinged world ? and that people out there still cared about me ? was incredibly powerful.
As my child has grown, so has the way I use social media. It?s an easy way for my friends t...