Fernie’s mayor is saying goodbye to Facebook.
Ange Qualizza says she will remain logged off of the social media site as she reaches the end of her month-long challenge to go with out it.
The Facebook Free February came about after Qualizza and her colleagues agreed the platform was increasing or causing stress and anxiety.
Qualizza says spending one month away from Facebook made her realize how unfocused her attention had become.
“Social media right now is amplifying a lot of negative news stories, opinion pieces you know, people in the community that are angry or feeling disenfranchised,” Qualizza says. “That’s kind of what the platform is designed to do. How many hours do you spend on that kind of platform probably impacts your mental health and your own outlook.”
Anyone who wants to talk to Qualizza can reach her via email her or by contacting her office.
“I’m always a little cautious when I seen anybody in leadership doing business on Facebook because it doesn’t have a really great process for communicating the work that we’re doing,” she says. “So, I would share City of Fernie posts and try to amplify good things but not really conducting a bunch of business,”
Qualizza says she’s following the example Victoria mayor Lisa Helps, who stopped using Facebook in 2018.
She’s encouraging everyone to take the challenge, and see if you’ll hit the ‘like’ button on a life without Facebook
– Ange Qualizza, Mayor of Fernie
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