Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

What should you think about when using Facebook?

veekaybee.github.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 240 posts

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#171

Post by iamdave »

I experienced first hand the drug like quality of Facebook when I made the decision to finally quit..I started asking friends if I had an up to date contact number for them as I was planning to leave the site.

Every single one of them, EVERY one of them made it a mission of sorts to keep me from leaving the site.

"Just unfollow people, spend less time on the site"

Well by spending NO time on the site I AM spending less time on the site so hey we both get what we want right?

One friend went armchair psychologist on me about the affair.

It was an interesting week between emails,phone calls and text messages asking me where I had gone and why. "was it something I posted?"

For my part three months later...I've been reading a lot more and my grades in pre-law are improving, and that's all the feedback I needed to know I was on the right track to removing unnecessary cruft from the life.

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#172

Post by yellow_viper »

debt wrote: post #103
grenoire wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To my knowledge, your account is never actually gone but instead deactivated. Not sure if there is a grace period to that, but as anondon said you can get an archive of all your data (which is what I did before deleting my account).

Facebook provides a real delete option. It's hidden but it's there. https://www.facebook.com/help/delete_account

Does this delete your data too? I spent about 2 days the other day running a script to delete all my data way back to 2010.

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#173

Post by ThrustVectoring »

Kluny wrote: post #74
afandian wrote: post #37

This is an excellent blog post, though it made me sick reading it. I recently made the switch. I went from trying to limit how much I log in (to once or twice a week), to actually not logging in. I've been cold-turkey for two months (except for a couple of times when I had a very specific reason to check something). I thought it would be difficult. Turns out it's not so hard, and it's the fear of reduced social conta…

> Turns out it's not so hard, and it's the fear of reduced social contact (or dopamine withdrawal more likely) that was stopping me. If you have a plan to replace the social interactions with other forms, you realise that the rest is just dross. This is the problem for me right now. I don't have a plan for replacing the social contact of facebook (and facebook isn't giving me anywhere close to what I need). I'm also…

Partner dancing is fantastic for this, IMO. Any sort of social hobby works, though. The less digitized the better - the fundamental problem is probably something like "by default, what I do is stare at a screen."

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#174

Post by tdaltonc »

If you're looking to use Facebook less (but can't bring yourself to quit) I just launched a tool for that!

http://youjustneedspace.com

The iOS version is a web app because Apple rejected our native app. They said any app that encourages you to use your phone less is not appropriate for the app store.

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#175

Post by bufordsharkley »

germinalphrase wrote: post #94
Kluny wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Turns out it's not so hard, and it's the fear of reduced social contact (or dopamine withdrawal more likely) that was stopping me. If you have a plan to replace the social interactions with other forms, you realise that the rest is just dross. This is the problem for me right now. I don't have a plan for replacing the social contact of facebook (and facebook isn't giving me anywhere close to what I need). I'm also…

I feel lucky in that I have a job that involves social interaction, but moving to a new city left me without any "third place". I definitely empathize with the loneliness that can stir up and so many public spaces seem designed around creating new social interactions between people who aren't already associated. I read an article not long ago about upscale private clubs. I'm strongly attracted to the status/networkin…

Community radio serves this for me-- people uniting over common interests, volunteering together to keep the outfit running, and interacting in unexpected ways.

I feel very fortunate to have this in my life, and really wish there were more things like this for more people--

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#176

Post by debt »

yellow_viper wrote: post #172
debt wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook provides a real delete option. It's hidden but it's there. https://www.facebook.com/help/delete_account

Does this delete your data too? I spent about 2 days the other day running a script to delete all my data way back to 2010.

I'm pretty sure it's a genuine delete button.

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#177

Post by sova »

iamdave wrote: post #171

I experienced first hand the drug like quality of Facebook when I made the decision to finally quit..I started asking friends if I had an up to date contact number for them as I was planning to leave the site. Every single one of them, EVERY one of them made it a mission of sorts to keep me from leaving the site. "Just unfollow people, spend less time on the site" Well by spending NO time on the site I AM spending le…

Yes, it's really bizarre, even the application/website itself has a whole guilt-trip gauntlet when you choose to deactivate your account. Not to mention that you cannot actually ever even _delete_ your data, you can only put your account into a suspended state of stasis.

The only people I know of who have success in their facebookian encounters are:

+ activists + artists (who connect under pseudonyms) + businesspeople (who connect under the umbrella of their company)

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#178

Post by mythrwy »

__jal wrote: post #145
jgrahamc wrote: post #15

A related question is "Should you sign up for Facebook today?". Five years ago I killed my Facebook account (and LinkedIn and G+) and it hasn't bothered me, but... am I missing out on something?

I've never used Facebook, see no reason to start. I occasionally get pushback from some relatives who tell me I'm not taking part in family stuff. That probably matters to some people, depending on their family dynamics. I simply point out that I also publish stuff online in places they don't choose to look. I also miss out on some community chatter and the occasional event with a couple of orgs I'm involved with. I…

You could suggest a private service if they want your participation.

Something like http://spokt.com

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#179

Post by emidln »

sova wrote: post #177
iamdave wrote: post #171

I experienced first hand the drug like quality of Facebook when I made the decision to finally quit..I started asking friends if I had an up to date contact number for them as I was planning to leave the site. Every single one of them, EVERY one of them made it a mission of sorts to keep me from leaving the site. "Just unfollow people, spend less time on the site" Well by spending NO time on the site I AM spending le…

Yes, it's really bizarre, even the application/website itself has a whole guilt-trip gauntlet when you choose to deactivate your account. Not to mention that you cannot actually ever even _delete_ your data, you can only put your account into a suspended state of stasis. The only people I know of who have success in their facebookian encounters are: + activists + artists (who connect under pseudonyms) + businesspeopl…

Data created on someone else's computer cannot ever be owned by you. Data created by someone else's proprietary software on your locked computer is probably never exclusively yours either.

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#180

Post by sova »

emidln wrote: post #179
sova wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it's really bizarre, even the application/website itself has a whole guilt-trip gauntlet when you choose to deactivate your account. Not to mention that you cannot actually ever even _delete_ your data, you can only put your account into a suspended state of stasis. The only people I know of who have success in their facebookian encounters are: + activists + artists (who connect under pseudonyms) + businesspeopl…

Data created on someone else's computer cannot ever be owned by you. Data created by someone else's proprietary software on your locked computer is probably never exclusively yours either.

Yes! Software "ownership" is a fascinatingly blurry ground.

Still though, just because I upload a picture to [f], it is no longer information regarding me? Perhaps it is a greater question of associability of information.

Why is not the great battle of the 21st century the right to privacy? Brand valuability and Information Collection are becoming synonymous.

Post reply on HN