Ask HN: Did you delete your Facebook account in 2018?

Yes. I wasn't using it for the last few years. Just decided to pull the trigger, and end it this year.

I deleted Instagram early 2017 and Facebook/Twitter/Google+/LinkedIn/etc in 2016.

Most/many of the contacts I then migrated to email and birthdays to my calendar/reminders. I’m happier keeping in touch with people this way.

Almost. 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.

2. 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.

3. I have zero faith that Facebook will stop tracking me, storing my data, or doing stuff I don’t want them to do if I delete my account. I have zero faith that they’d stop even if I got a court order.

I know several people who work at various positions in Facebook. Every time they talk about the company, it sounds worse and worse. I’m slowly transitioning from, “They’re just another big data miner,” to, “They’re a truly evil company that goes out of their way to be deceptive and would sell their soul—no, my soul—for a cheeseburger.”

No, but I started posting to my own website instead, and syndicating the content to FB, Twitter, Instagram, and Mastadon. I also use brid.gy fed to backfeed Twitter and Instagram to my blog.

For private messaging, I use email.