As a Gen-Z, I can't avoid Facebook; but I won't be buying its stock

ON A recent visit through Instagram, Facebook's photo-sharing social media network, I found that the user experience for Instagram Stories had once again gotten worse. These are posts that disappear after 24 hours, and that live at the top of the app.

My friend's stories were sandwiched between two ads: one for GrabFood in which a ghost climbs out of a fridge to order food; and another from The Business Times' 45th anniversary promotions. (Side note: We're 45! Check out our subscription promotions here to read the rest of this article if you're still not a subscriber.)

As I swiped my stories away, I scrolled down on my feed to see what my friends have been up to. A graduation post here, a couple of selfies there, and, strangely, a How I Met Your Mother meme from an account that I had never seen before. That's strange, I thought. Only friends I follow should show up in my own feed.