Anybody Delete Your Facebook Account?

[ThermiteTermite]

I guess I'm a little slow, I don't quite get it. If I wanted something to be private, I would never have put it on the internet in the first place.

[kbraker]

I deactivated mine almost 3 months ago. One of the best decisions I’ve made since I signed up. I got really sucked in when the Mrs. got a second pt( also ate a lot of meatball subs and watched tv with my cat). It got so bad when she was around we both had our lives dictated by it. In a fit of desperation I cut off all social media. With exception of guitar forums, shopping, cooking apps and the usual fare( weather, YouTube, etc.) I’m pretty much hands free.

[Wadcutter]

Originally Posted by kbraker

I deactivated mine almost 3 months ago. One of the best decisions I’ve made since I signed up. I got really sucked in when the Mrs. got a second pt( also ate a lot of meatball subs and watched tv with my cat). It got so bad when she was around we both had our lives dictated by it. In a fit of desperation I cut off all social media. With exception of guitar forums, shopping, cooking apps and the usual fare( weather, YouTube, etc.) I’m pretty much hands free.

Yeah, I think when you first get on FB you think, “Hey, this is a pretty cool way to stay in touch with everyone!” Then after a while, and the “while” depends on the individual, I think people start to get annoyed by it and begin the process of forsaking it all together after realizing they don’t really WANT to stay in touch with everybody after seeing the umpteenth image of some “friend” in his latest selfie or ranting and raving about God knows what. The final straw for me was when I logged onto FB one Saturday morning and saw 7 different images of what seven different “friends” were having for breakfast. I mean come on, really? That was it for me.

[Neil K Walk]

My problem with Facebook is more immediate; it's ruining real life relationships. Every night I sit on the couch next to my wife, whose nose is always pointed a some device and is more connected to it than me. The silence is deafening. Granted, it's the only way that she can keep in touch with her parents who moved away a decade ago - but that's a whole 'nother ball o' wax.

[DCCougar]

Anybody Delete Your Facebook Account?

Years ago!

[lmacmil]

Originally Posted by Wadcutter

Just read where 10% of FB users have deleted their accounts because of the recent data privacy issues.

I have not seen that figure but it sounds wildly optimistic to me. Regardless, I have not deleted mine but my wife has and she spent very little time on it prior to deleting. I am on it less than 10 minutes/day, probably closest to 5.

[saxonblue]

I don't have a lot of FB 'friends' compared to some people (<100) but I don't have any less either since this fiasco & they all appear to be active so I'd say 0% of those have deleted their accounts.

[Mr. Jelly]

Originally Posted by Neil K Walk

it's the only way that she can keep in touch with her parents

No offence ment here but having similar situations, as many do, I have concluded that there isn't much of a relationship through keeping in touch on Facebook. In fact it ends up feeling a little more tragic. Often people post their media life image on social media and that is an engineered addiction.

[valleyguy]

Facebook is just another means of communication for the human race. AS we communicate more we advance as a civilization and a species. I know people will immediately react to that and say what usefulness is there to "communication" on Facebook.

When the telephone was first invented many people felt it was unnecessary. Party lines and operators made sure there was no privacy, but over time the technology evolved and laws were passed to ensure privacy. Now who would question its use.

Same thing when email came along. I remember in the mid 80's trying to convince upper management at my company to install email. It was a hard sell. Many refused to use it for many years. Now who would consider living without it.

Then text messages came along, same issues. Facebook is just another means of connecting with people, it will evolve, laws will be passed to control and improve it.

That said, I use Facebook with all its warts, I don't care about the privacy concerns, but then I don't live in an authoritarian state like China. I'd care then......

[Neil K Walk]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

No offence ment here but having similar situations, as many do, I have concluded that there isn't much of a relationship through keeping in touch on Facebook. In fact it ends up feeling a little more tragic. Often people post their media life image on social media and that is an engineered addiction.

Why would I be offended? IIRC I stated that I don't have a FB account simply because I can't be bothered with vapid people who choose to present the most superficial parts of their personalities.

Here's a news flash though: nobody under 40 uses Facebook. That's because they know it's a time suck and would rather be sharing their experiences either in smaller chunks so that they can do more or using their cameras to stream videos of it in real time. That doesn't make them any less fake, just with less time on their hands. In many ways, for the youth cell phones have replaced having imaginary friends. Now they have countless faceless followers. I'm not sure how that's any better though. In fact, I find it to be disturbingly Orwellian. People are freely giving away liberties that previous generations fought to protect and died for it. Who cares though? Vietnam and China are now portrayed as vacation spots.

As for FB, don't fret. It will be gone soon enough. Just understand that everything that goes on the Internet is cataloged and cross referenced with ways to separate you from your income.

[marty bradbury]

Not yet, still waiting for my first friend!

[Mr. Jelly]

Originally Posted by marty bradbury

Not yet, still waiting for my first friend!

Good luck with that!

[JCave]

Originally Posted by Neil K Walk

My problem with Facebook is more immediate; it's ruining real life relationships. Every night I sit on the couch next to my wife, whose nose is always pointed a some device and is more connected to it than me. The silence is deafening. Granted, it's the only way that she can keep in touch with her parents who moved away a decade ago - but that's a whole 'nother ball o' wax.

Yup. My wife just got her first um- "smart" phone. Talk about a conversation killer. Pays attention to the various alerts going like they're shiny things needing immediate attention.

[RedJoker]

Originally Posted by JCave

Yup. My wife just got her first um- "smart" phone. Talk about a conversation killer. Pays attention to the various alerts going like they're shiny things needing immediate attention.

So is the problem the phone or the person? The object is just a tool.

[Tico]

I can't delete my FB account because I've never had one, nor Instagram, nor Myspace, nor Twitter, nor a smartphone, nor TV.

IMO they all seduce, brainwash, dumb down, and kill the best parts of people ... while making a few people zillionaires.