I am not really a regular on Facebook and while I have had an account on the social media platform for many years, I didn’t use it regularly. For starters, compared to Twitter/X – where I am active – I felt Facebook is always more of a platform for sharing pictures of holidays and other life experiences with family members and friends, not least because, unlike Twitter/X, on Facebook most of your connections are people whom you know.
However, in recent weeks, I have increased my activity on Facebook, particularly on various groups, something that Twitter/X lacks. On many of these groups, one can be an interested bystander and watch and read all the posts and the comments and debates they generate. Many of these groups have tens of thousands of members, and admins and/or moderators run them and have specific rules for postings and interaction.
One such group – and quite popular with over 71,000 members at last count – is called Karachi Food Diary. Its admins include a well-known economist, columnist and commentator on economic and business issues but the day-to-day moderation is carried out by a couple of people.
I sometimes post on this group as well as some other Karachi-related groups. A few days ago I made a one-liner post on the group:........