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Kicking the Facebook Habit™ isn’t easy, but it’s worthwhile. The less time and energy that you give Facebook, the better it is for you, for me, and for everyone on planet Earth–except for those who work at Facebook, that is. That’s why I’m saying goodbye to using Facebook Events forever, and using EventBrite instead.
Events are a big one: you’re forking over a lot of personal data and compromising that of your guests every time you schedule an event on Facebook. I know, I know! “But it’s so easy! I can just make an event and click everyone’s name on a list and it’s now a thing!” That’s okay, sometimes change can be hard, but I think this is worth doing.
Setting up an event on Eventbrite is easy. Put in a title and set your event type (for social get-togethers there is a “Party or Social Gathering” category, and I usually pick “Other” for the sub-category). If you want your event to be found publicly you can add keywords as tags, and if you organize a lot of events you can set up an organizer profile, so people can see other events you’ve planned in the past.
EventBrite lets you set your event as a physical venue, an online event, or to decide that later. Online events have a unique style of page that allows you to add links to livestreams or other online destinations.
With Date and time you can set the details for a single event or set up your event as recurring if you’re planning a series.
From here it starts to feel a lot like Facebook Events. Add an image, add a description and details to flesh out what your event looks like.
The Online Event Page allows you to add online destination details, like the login for a Zoom call, so you can give everyone an easy 1-click trip into your event without having to worry about them getting lost.
The secret sauce, for me, is Privacy Settings. You can set your event to private, wherein anyone with the link can join (great for sharing with groups of discerning friends), anyone with a password can join, or only people with an EventBrite invitation can join.
This is where you should be doing some work to take back your personal relationships from Facebook: talk to your friends and make sure your contacts are updated, and while you’re at it, move them to Signal, so that you can connect with them on invitations more easily.
That’s it–with a good contact list and a little bit of effort, you can give Facebook Events the kiss of death and say goodbye to sacrificing your privacy while still connecting with friends and family. While COVID-19 is still an issue, try to stick with online events or practice good social distancing in person–-it’s the right thing to do!
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