Deleting Facebook permanently • Hacker News Board

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#111

Post by suyash » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 5:46 PM UTC

Lendal wrote: post #65

suyash wrote: post #30

Alternative : For those who are too much invested and tied into FB ecosystem with IG, Facebook Groups, Fan Page etc --> just limit your use of FB, consider deleting the app or blocking the website so you are limited to check it on only one platform and it will also be a reminder to limit social media.

I've considered joining Facebook but only to run it on one laptop inside a Facebook container, and never install their mobile app.

good idea, some people use the mobile website on phone and don't install the app because of privacy/tracking reasons.

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#112

Post by viewconstrued » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 5:47 PM UTC

Deleted Facebook in 2010 when I graduated college. Deleted Instagram in 2017 but had it for a year recently while I was nomadic. I only use Facetime, Messages and the Phone app now.

I’m only missing superficial connection as elegantly detailed in the Digital Minimalism book.

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#113

Post by tootie » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 5:48 PM UTC

drcongo wrote: post #29

I deleted it 8 years ago when it first became obvious what was going to happen. Have never missed it for a second and I feel a bit sorry for people who think they can't do the same.

Serious question: What happened?

I was a FB member for a few years and quit mostly because I wasn't actually interested in what anyone was up to. As far I could tell, FB worked perfectly fine. My breaking point was realizing that my friends and family aren't that interesting.

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#114

Post by ryanianian » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 5:48 PM UTC

Traubenfuchs wrote: post #16

I am 28 and none of my peers is using FB anymore. I have some older friends that do their yearly christmas party invite on FB and some people who chat with me on FB messenger. There primarily are ads, spam, people posting commercial content and people congratulating each other for their birthdays. Is facebook this dead for anyone else?

One thing I don't see mentioned much here is the local or topic/interest facebook groups.

I have a house in a remote community where it's hard to find contractors and the like. The local FB group has been invaluable in finding local resources, getting to know neighbors, and alerting neighbors of local conditions. The alternatives are basically Nextdoor and craigslist which suffer from network effects among other things.

Of course people use the group as a soap-box or meme/clickbait sprayer at times, but the mods do a pretty good job such that there are very few wortwhile "forked" groups.

Similar applies for a few other interest groups I'm in. Groups.io is starting to eat their lunch on that, and reddit is gaining steam in the mainstream, but again network effects are strong.

When using an app container and limiting engagement with clickbait content, there is still some human value in participating on facebook in these very limited ways.

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#115

Post by MrDresden » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 5:48 PM UTC

I'm a year and a half in on the removal of Facebook from my life. Deleted the account and didn't look back. Has not had any impact on my social or professional life. I'd recommend doing the same.

I am currenlty well on my way in the process of uncondition myself from using Instagram, and I haven't touched WA in months.

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#116

Post by meatpuppeting » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 5:48 PM UTC

Traubenfuchs wrote: post #16

I am 28 and none of my peers is using FB anymore. I have some older friends that do their yearly christmas party invite on FB and some people who chat with me on FB messenger. There primarily are ads, spam, people posting commercial content and people congratulating each other for their birthdays. Is facebook this dead for anyone else?

Yeah basically same purpose as you. FB messenger to talk to some people or have old friends keep in touch.

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#117

Post by joshmanders » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 5:48 PM UTC

tyc85 wrote: post #106

Second that, and I'd like to add google too with the following alternatives: 1. search: duckduckgo 2. email: proton I know google is more pervasive in services, these two can be a good start.

Yup, Email is the only thing I haven't migrated off Google yet, that one is tougher so far.

But also instead of Chrome use Brave or Edge, both built on Chromium and are essentially Chrome, but without Google's spyware bloat.

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#118

Post by tdfx » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 5:49 PM UTC

rocgf wrote: post #93

Traubenfuchs wrote: post #16

I am 28 and none of my peers is using FB anymore. I have some older friends that do their yearly christmas party invite on FB and some people who chat with me on FB messenger. There primarily are ads, spam, people posting commercial content and people congratulating each other for their birthdays. Is facebook this dead for anyone else?

I quit it about a year ago and I cannot even remember what it was like having an account, it just seems so strange that this would be such an important part of their online life. Everybody I know is on Whatsapp/Signal, so I really don't feel like I'm missing anything.

> Everybody I know is on Whatsapp/Signal

I wish I could say this. It seems the US is the only country where everyone wants to continue using SMS/iMessage for everything. It's literally the only way to communicate with most of my American friends.

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#119

Post by kingaillas » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 5:49 PM UTC

ok_coo wrote: post #47

Cmortoc wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you all using instead?

Snapchat is what my extended family uses to communicate with each other and send fun stuff. Whatsapp for group communication with friends overseas. Both of these apps don't have the BS that comes with Facebook. If you still want to get your fix, TikTok is better platform for getting a mix of interesting content from normal people. Aside from using Facebook messenger to chat, I don't see a good purpose for Facebook an…

Do Snapchat, Whatsapp, whatever else have scheduling features? I have friends that use FB to schedule events and send invites out. And various groups I'm in use the scheduling feature to set event times, etc.

One group I'm in, entirely devoted to online games, has switched to Discord. But there is a 0% chance Discord will be adopted by the rest of the groups/friends that use FB event scheduling and messaging.

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#120

Post by emsy » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 5:50 PM UTC

willis936 wrote: post #5

After losing control of my Yahoo email after trying to delete it, I have learned that it’s not smart to give up control of something that has your identity. I never use facebook, but I will never delete it. I don’t trust facebook.

That’s a terribly generalized advice. At least in the EU companies are obliged to delete your data (I don’t know about the US). Of course whether they delete it is another matter but that would be a violation of GDPR.