Yes I did. Didn’t miss it at all.
Ask HN: Did you delete your Facebook account in 2018?
351–360 of 408 posts
Re: Ask HN: Did you delete your Facebook account in 2018?
#352Almost. I started the process—downloaded all my data, etc. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go through with it for reasons I’m embarrassed to admit: 1. One entire side of my extended family relies on it for all familial communications. I was forced to use Facebook Messenger recently to help with wedding planning, for example. These people are addicted to it an have invested everything in it—Facebook knows their entire lives…
> I couldn’t go through with it for reasons I’m embarrassed to admit Quitting Facebook may not a choice without severe consequences. I'm lucky enough to be able to stay away from Facebook, but I know everyone isn't in the same position. It's important to acknowledge that Facebook is inextricably intertwined with many peoples professional and social lives. Your workplace may require you to Workplace by Facebook for co…
It's important to acknowledge that Facebook is inextricably intertwined with many peoples professional and social lives
This is true but also it wasn’t that long ago that going out for a smoke break was vital for people’s professional and social lives
Re: Ask HN: Did you delete your Facebook account in 2018?
#353Earlier quoted context omitted.
> People post pictures of me on Facebook despite my objections. Continuously. They tag me—despite my objections. With an account, I can make it difficult for an average person to find photos of me. In the privacy settings there's a control so that you need to approve taggings of you before they go public.
You're only getting the privacy settings, if you have an account. That was his point.
But you’re only getting tagged if you have an account too, I thought?
Re: Ask HN: Did you delete your Facebook account in 2018?
#354No. I simply stopped updating it. Completely.
I also ran a script to delete every post I ever made.
Barely use it now (mostly for talking to folks on Messenger).
Wish I could get rid of Whatsapp too.
Re: Ask HN: Did you delete your Facebook account in 2018?
#355Didn’t delete, but deleted the app and stopped using it. Very occasionally drop on to look something up, or to browse say once a month or so.
I downloaded my data and started deleting everything. I started messaging friends to ensure I had up to date contact info. Then I realised it was just easier to leave the account alone.
Never look at it at work anymore, don’t post anything other than the occasional article on how social media is bad for your health!
You quickly learn who your real friends are - we have long phone conversations every few months instead. Much more satisfying and meaningful. Interacting through a screen is an extremely poor substitute for a phone or face to face conversation.
Attention span improved, extremely focused at work.
When I drop back in I always see the same small subset of people posting the same kind of thing: they’re evidently consistently bored or addicted, and there is very little of value there.
Still use messenger a bit, but use Signal and SMS as much as possible.
Completely stopped using instagram, it’s a whole extra level of narcissism that I can’t stand.
I’d love to see some competition in this space. Small simple apps for chat and photo albums and status updates, chronologically ordered, with a small monetisation fee / freemium model. Please, someone bring back functional social networks.
Re: Ask HN: Did you delete your Facebook account in 2018?
#356Yes. I deleted everything except LinkedIn this year. I will delete that soon. I wish I could delete everything including this site...
I see more value in keeping FB than LinkedIn. LinkedIn is just a sad recruitment agent party these days.
I think to me the value is equal in a way. It comes down to fear of missing out. What events/social activities will I miss out on by not having Facebook? What possible job/career opportunities will I miss out on by not having LinkedIn?
Re: Ask HN: Did you delete your Facebook account in 2018?
#357Yes. I deleted everything except LinkedIn this year. I will delete that soon. I wish I could delete everything including this site...
Agreed, as someone that's never used facebook, I see a lot of the criticisms levied against it and think hacker news and other forms of social news are just as damaging.
I've read enough books about the internet now to realize that all of the benefits come with costs. I can be just as addicted to any of the information spouts on the internet. Hacker News provides the same sort of response for me as Facebook might for someone else. It is almost ironic but it is harder to 'delete' Hacker News than Facebook because of the walled garden approach of Facebook.
Re: Ask HN: Did you delete your Facebook account in 2018?
#358Re: Ask HN: Did you delete your Facebook account in 2018?
#359No. I actually created a Facebook account in 2018. The problem is that without Facebook you will miss out. Sure, close friends and family will invite you to their social events, but more distant acquaintances will not; you know, the bloke you met at the pub last week and had a 20 minute chat with, or that cute girl you talked to but then she suddenly she was dragged off to a birthday party by her friends. By missing…
> Sure, close friends and family will invite you to their social events, but more distant acquaintances will not; you know, the bloke you met at the pub last week and had a 20 minute chat with, or that cute girl you talked to but then she suddenly she was dragged off to a birthday party by her friends. By missing out on the social opportunities you lose the chance to upgrade these people from acquaintances to friends…
From your comment and the one right above, it seems that you two are at very different life junctures. If you're married with kids, Facebook is probably the last thing you need to bother with. If you're single and looking to socialize, Facebook is probably a great enabler.
Re: Ask HN: Did you delete your Facebook account in 2018?
#360Earlier quoted context omitted.
I missed my friend's 50th birthday party because I wasn't on Facebook (haven't been for around 3-4 years), and he assumed that everyone he wanted there was. That stung enough for me to think about it, but whenever I see people scrolling through their feeds there's so much drivel that I immediately go off the idea again.
> I missed my friend's 50th birthday party because I wasn't on Facebook Hate to break it to you, but he's not really your friend. You would have known about it directly or through someone else if so. Facebook is for finding out about events / people who aren't close to you, but you're still interested in. That's its value.
That doesn't have to be true. I forgot to invite the guy who sits left of me at work to my 40th birthday, because he does not have Facebook. I coordinated the whole thing on Facebook because "everyone has Facebook". And it didn't cross my mind that someone didn't. I talk to him a couple of times a day about non-work related things, it just never came up for some reason.