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

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

#211
post #199

Earlier 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.

Thanks for making this point, as (I hope) banal it can be. This assumption that everyone uses FB needs erasure.

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

#213
post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's been a few years, but I'm reasonable sure I actually deleted it and didn't just deactivate it. Or at least, that was the impression Facebook gave me. There was a big "you will lose all data!" warning as well as a cooling down period of a week or so, during which I could restore my account in case I changed my mind.

Perhaps you logged into Facebook unconsciously or through an app within that time frame? That is enough to stop the deletion process.

Perhaps, but unlikely; I didn't own a smartphone until January, and I've set up my browser to selectively remembering cookies for ages (I don't have Facebook in the whitelist, for reasons that should be obvious).

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

#214

No. 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…

Counter point, I deleted my account (not just deactivated.) I haven't missed any significant events. You can absolutely have an active and fulfilling social life without.

Sure; it's just harder. Although it also depends on who your friends are. It was easier back in the Netherlands as I was living in the city I grew up in and knew people there. I also had a regular (non-remote) job.

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

#215

I got banned from facebook this year. So some background. I used facebook as a normal user from 2010 to 2012. I thought it was stupid on day 1 but was peer pressured into it (thanks high school) and by 2012 I still thought it was stupid and useless so I quit. At various intervals between 2012 and now I've had shitposting accounts. Fake names and fake pictures but most people in the friends list knew who was behind th…

Man, I respect the hell outta your troll. Thanks for making me smile.

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

#216
post #128
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People post pictures of me on Facebook despite my objections. We need to make legislation against this. I know taking pictures in public places is fair game. I also know celebrities are subject to having this information published due to the public nature of their lives. But for those wanting to live private lives, we should be able to ban tagging or indexing and sue those parties that enable this to happen without…

It's not fair game in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy at least, unless you're a person of public interest. I'm not sure how Facebook handles that. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recht_am_eigenen_Bild (sorry, no English)

If I look in google for pictures of those places there are plenty of people in them. I'm talking pictures of streets full of people or cool looking buildings with lots of people sitting around in the grass. I don't imagine the photographer went to talk to each person all the way to the horizon to ask permission, and I imagine, in the time one sets up the camera, multiple people probably enter and leave the view. There really is no practical way to take pictures of these places without people unless you get the help of authorities to close off these spaces and get everyone out of the way. So how do these laws work?

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

#217
post #199

Earlier 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.

I think this is too harsh. Organising a grand 50th birthday is a lot of effort, and forgetting that one friend (who may not be a close friend but still a friend) doesn't have Facebook is easy enough.

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

#220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Facebook didn't really "delete" my old account, as after I rejoined it remembered many of my previous friends Do you happen to live in Europe, by chance?

Yes; I was living in the UK when I created the account, but am Dutch. I now live in New Zealand. Does this matter?

Does the GDPR apply to you?
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