I feel liberated: just permanently deleted my facebook account

[WHiiP]

Tune in, turn on, DROP OUT.

I actively made a decision NOT to join. I'm not that socially inclined to want to encourage others to bother me. :drink:

[Ombligo]

I never joined in and never felt like I was missing anything.. well I did miss some deals that required you to "like" the company. I also lost touch with someone who stopped answer email and said they only communicated through facebook. So, in other words I didn't lose anything.

But then I still can't figure out why anyone wants to use a cellphone to text a conversation instead of just talking to the other person.

I'm so old fashion and behind - just the way I like it.

[Robert M]

Davester,

Facebook is a tool for its users but its users are the tool of Facebook. In my opinion, Facebook uses you as a means to its ends, be it making money, gathering information about you, etc. You'd be a fool to think otherwise. This is not to say I don't have a Facebook account. I have one but actively choose to keep the privacy controls set to the maximum and not use the account. The reason is identity theft.

I got the account after my wife's identity was stolen by a Facebook user. The individual had created an account her name and was impersonating her. The individual literally had a picture and was actively conversing and interacting with other Facebook users. They all thought it was my wife. My wife found out about it accidentally and to say it was shocking is an understatement.

Facebook ignored her requests to take action about it until after we found a way to contact someone there with the authority do deal with it. Fortunately, all this individual did was create a Facebook account in my wife's name and pretended to be her. We're grateful it was all innocuous. But, it could have been much worse. As a result of the situation, my wife and I both created accounts of our own and set then to maximum privacy.

All of our friends and family know we choose not to use Facebook. So, now, if someone(s) starts interacting with them as if he/she is my wife or I, they'll know it's an impostor. We'll immediately take appropriate action to deal with the situation.

Robert

[Kiva]

$tevie wrote:

And no, they do not own your content. Look it up, it is simply not true.

perhaps my info was old:

http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2010/10/...trides.ars

so, OK, maybe they don't *own* it, but so long as it's on their servers - by you or somebody else - they have all rights to it:

""...you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook ("IP License"). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it."

I've always found the advertising practices creepy. I go to CNN and in the corner are people from my FB account and their info. No matter what I do to the privacy settings and cnn cookies, this persists.

[CJsNvrUrly]

DaviDC. wrote:
I still use it regularly but noticed a few weeks ago that traffic seems to be a whole lot lighter than it was before FB brought about the last round of sweeping "improvements." I can't find any hard evidence to support this, but would be willing to bet money that I'm right.

:agree:

[mrlynn]

My daughter uses Facebook to keep in touch with friends, new and old, a lot of them other mothers sharing experiences. I have a FB account, but never post on it, and find the constant requests from people who are at best acquaintances (or at worst completely unknown) to be 'friends' annoying.

Linked-In is also annoying, cluttering up my email Inbox.

Being on the radio, I have no privacy, but I do like to maintain a certain distance. . .

/Mr Lynn

[blooz]

Linked-in is annoying. I only keep getting emails from the "Groups" I joined because i actually got connected to a couple useful tutorials.

Facebook is okay as long as you don't post anything you don't want the world to know about. And hide posts from friends who annoy you. I've found it useful for sharing some photos and videos.
I personally think the big thing about facebook in the beginning was that people were on a sort of ego trip to see how many "friends" they acquire.

That could be useful for someone running a business—for instance an artist i know is promoting a show coming up.

Otherwise, yeah it can be a big time-suck, especially if you use it to avoid doing something else you don't want to do.

[SDGuy]

blooz wrote:
...Facebook is okay as long as you don't post anything you don't want the world to know about...

:agree:

I'm astounded by the number of people who haven't figured that out...

[MacDoxy]

Face book is so integrated into life ppl dont have to mention it anymore. It seems everyone ive ever known - especially if they are <35 and many up to 45, then it drops off and then the 70+ ppl seem to have taken to it- are on fb. I never post any pics or say anything personal since i found out early it is NEVER deleted plus i dont like sharing photos or personal stuff in an invisible public forum that has everyone on the planet's attention.

Idk what the supposedly current delete options are but my friend deleted their fb account for over two years and thought she'd start a new one fresh but when she rejoined she found her old account came right up. Many of my more tech savvy friends tend to use a fake name, idk if that really helps.

Texting has helped me because i have a family that you cant get a word in edgewise with ever. Text has helped me get along with many of them that i felt i didnt know before and especially since noone has to commit to a long phonecall. Plus i was watching my friends' 18 yr old last month texting quietly in front of the tv. I said wow they have a lot to say. My friend said no its that shes talking to six or seven people usually after dinner. You cant do that and watch a movie too with phonecalls.

[MacDoxy]

Oh and many many times ( like everyday) i have wished this forum had a "like" button for comments posted on this forum. Just to agree or say you liked someones post you have to make a whole post and quote the person.