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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?

#241

Post by bigiain »

krn wrote: post #238
bigiain wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure - but it just enables the behaviour of selling out your entire social circle to Zuckerburg. I know we've lost that fight - but it doesn't mean it's not worth resisting.

> but it just enables the behaviour of selling out your entire social circle to Zuckerburg. If that's the main reason to quit Facebook, the question should have been: "Did you delete your Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp accounts in 2018?". Yet, somehow nobody asks that question.

Well, not _quite_ "nobody". But yeah, I recognise I'm many standard deviations away from "normal" here... (I've also booted Twitter, and exiting Google is in-progress - except for the work GSuite account...)

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

#242

Post by Casseres »

jompe wrote: post #226

I've tried since I didn't want to accept their escape hatch when GDPR came and thus couldn't use their services anyway. Unfortunately they apparently drag out the deletion process so I haven't successfully deleted it as of yet. It's actually worked out quite OK, I'm relying on a few friends updating me on what happens in some group chats right now but a lot of friends has already moved over to alternative chat platfo…

For a while it blocked me from the News Feed because I didn't accept their new GDPR policy, but could still send Messages to other friends. After a while I discovered I could use the News Feed and never saw the GDPR page again.

I hope they aren't claiming that I accepted it. I guess it's their word against mine, no way to prove that I didn't click the button if they just flip a bit in their database.

I just rarely use it for Messages now, no News Feed.

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

#243

Post by bigiain »

Carpetsmoker wrote: post #233
bigiain wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Easy enough" - only if your default way of thinking is "all my friends are facebook friends". That's plain lazy thinking, it's completely giving up on your privacy-aware friends because Zuckerberg makes doing that so so easy. What a surprise.

There are many systemic wrongs that are worth fighting to change, and a single person can't possibly fight them all at the same time. You can't expect everyone to be deeply invested in the privacy cause; some people care more about, say, feminism, or veganism, or homelessness, or something else. That's okay, too.

Oh, I 100% agree.

We all choose our own battles and our own hills to die on.

And deep down, I suspect many of us (or at the very least "me") choose those battles and hills for not entirely rational or "for the greater good" reasons.

Having said that, if your battle is feminism you don't remain engaged with and support "locker room talk". If your battle is veganism you don't remain engaged with groups of butchers or hunters. One of my battles is privacy - I'm not going to support or enable surveillance capitalism, even though I know the social cost I'll incur there.

There's an unkind stereotype about vegans "Hoe do you know if someone's a vegan? Don't worry, they'll tell you..." - but that reveals an admirable trait shared by "them" collectively, if you aren't speaking out for what you believe in - you're enabling and maintaining things which you do not believe in.

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

#244

Post by Marsymars »

basitmakine wrote: post #68
chrisper wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are right. Nothing better than a company using your private messages for targeted ads!

I don't know man. I'm just perfectly ok with them sneak peeking into my conversation trends and extracting key phrases for targeted ads.. I mean, what is the alternative? You can pay subscription fees(noone would), or see generic ads(no company would advertise due to next to zero CR).. Either way, facebook is dead. What makes companies like Facebook, Google etc unique is that, their ability to appease to both sides o…

> I mean, what is the alternative? You can pay subscription fees(noone would)

I'd be happy to pay for the marginal cost of a quality, highly scaled, private messaging service for me and for everyone I communicate with.

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

#245

Post by Marsymars »

ublaze wrote: post #114

No. I unfollowed everyone and everything on Facebook, and whenever I add someone new, I unfollow them immediately too. So my news feed is perpetually empty. This makes Facebook something that reminds me of people's birthdays, and let's me keep in touch via Messenger, which is all that I need.

I did this, and infuriatingly, Facebook still insists on emailing me about notifications from people I'm not following. There seems to be no way to avoid this if I want to receive email notification of event invites. (Which I do, since I don't have the apps installed and won't visit the website otherwise.)

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

#246

Post by LargeWu »

bigiain wrote: post #239
LargeWu wrote: post #230

No. I have a few online businesses and Facebook is critical to driving traffic. It's not a stretch to say I would not have a viable business without the ability to advertise on Facebook proper. Even Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest...none of these have ever driven a single sale, but I've gotten plenty off Facebook.

I'm curious - would you be happy mentioning what type/area of business that is? I've heard _way_ more stories of five and six figure Facebook ad spends resulting in zero attributable transactions than success stories. The word on the street I'm hearing is that Instagram is where the conversions are coming from in B2C...

T-shirts. I have a few different niches - one for regional/state pride, one for the band Phish. Honestly I would have expected Instagram to deliver since it's such a visual medium, but it hasn't so far. It could definitely be my creative; it's possible Instagram requires a higher quality than I'm posting. But I would be surprised if there was an appreciable difference between that and FB

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

#247

Post by ishan_chhabra »

No. Instead, I use Facebook News Feed Eradicator (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/news-feed-eradicat...) and use it only on the desktop (no mobile app).

I get the benefits of Facebook (real identity with almost everyone on the platform, events, groups, etc.) without loosing hours reading crap on the news feed.

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

#248

Post by ishan_chhabra »

frereubu wrote: post #198
Carpetsmoker wrote: post #141

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…

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.

Use Facebook News Feed Eradicator (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/news-feed-eradicat...) and use it only on the desktop (no mobile app).

You'll get the benefits of Facebook (real identity with almost everyone on the platform, events, groups, etc.) without loosing hours reading crap on the news feed.

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

#249

Post by mrmondo »

In 2012: Slowly changed all information in the account to misinformation, moved the account to 'Ireland', Wrote a crappy script to uploaded blank replacement photos / images where possible, remove all friends and then delete all post attachments then the posts, then waited several weeks and "deleted" the account.

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

#250

Post by oblib »

No, but early in 2016 I tightened up my account settings, deleted all those "friend requests" from people I didn't know or interact with, made all my posts viewable by only "friends", and I've made very few "Public" posts since. I also very seldom post any photos of me or anyone I know there. I also delete cookies and other saved data in the browser I use to access FB regularly.

I have less than 200 FB friends, and most I know very well or follow them because they post very interesting stuff. I don't, and never have, used FB on my phone.

This has made using FB enjoyable for me because I know what data they have. It's only what I let them have, and it's not really all that much.

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