Live data from Hacker News

Deleting Facebook permanently

blog.spacehey.com

151–160 of 234 posts

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#151
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't used Facebook in almost a decade and I haven't missed it for a second. I sometimes ask friends and family why they use it and the answer is always either "I don't know" or "to keep track of friends and family" (AKA: a glorified contact list). Many of them talk about getting rid of it, but few ever follow through. People love to speculate about "Facebook Killers", but what is there to even kill? Facebook doe…

I had in mind more of a societal shift that makes FB/IG/etc. deeply uncool. Maybe living a super secretive life, never sharing anything, becomes the counterculture of the 2040s. I just can’t imagine young people (main drivers of social media) are going to be happy with circa 2005 social media forever.

As I understand, young people already aren't happy with Facebook. FB's heavy users seem to be primarily millennials, gen X, and boomers.

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#152
I deleted my Facebook account permanently about two years ago. I created a new one this Christmas for one very simple reason: I wanted to be able to use Messenger, because it's the only common denominator for my entire extended family.

Thankfully, it's completely possible to use only Messenger, but you need to jump through some hoops. Facebook will automatically enable your "normal" account, so you need to disable it (not delete it) to "keep" the Messenger functionality while closing your profile.

As for FB as a social network, I don't know. I'll echo the sentiment in the currently top voted comment here: nobody I know uses it that way anymore, except the oldest ones in my family. Looking at it cynically, I guess it makes sense that the generation that are the least resilient to online disinformation are also the last ones to jump ship.

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#154
post #54

I see that the OP is using spacehey (which I've never heard of and seems to be slow for some reason), but how can anyone be sure that it won't be overrun by bots and unsavory characters?

Hi, I use SpaceHey because my friend An made it as a throwback to 2005-2008 MySpace and it is taking off like no other. It is slow right now because he's getting an influx of something like 5k users a day from the viralness of it. How will it not be overrun by bots and unsavory characters? We don't know. It's not a corporation backed platform. It's literally an 18 year old developer who pined for a simpler time that…

How will SpaceHey support itself?

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But aren't all those youngsters using instagram (which is relatively more 'intellectually demeaning' IMO, and still owned by Facebook)?

At this point I feel like instagram is only popular because there is a generation who can't/won't read anymore. We are slowly turning into degenerates. Maybe Idiocracy was right after all.

My thoughts exactly. I have literally asked my friends list on facebook to write more - in whichever language they're comfortable with, rather than just posting images of their food or the artificial and inflated display of how rich and happy they are. It's pretty sad, but to each his own, I guess.

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#156
I deleted facebook in 2015 and have not regretted it one bit since. I also deleted Instagram in 2018 and have not regretted that either. I feel like I am not missing out on anything of note and really glad I dodged all the election misinformation that FB and co. were pushing during the past election year. Not having toxic ideas being force-fed to you via social media can do wonders for your mental and physical well being.

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#157
My own purely anecdotal findings:

1. I quit fb many years ago. In my case, using it made me anxious so getting back on it would have been the challenge instead. The main drawback is that you lose out on some of the organic meetings that strengthen relationships. It's not that people forget about you, but that by simple friction you will not participate in certain interactions. This will be generational as the youngest users will be on another service and older users will have networks that aren't as influenced by fb. Note that fb is still extremely popular even among the 2. I eventually caved in and installed fb messenger without linking it to my account, which I use for certain group chats. I don't regret this usage at all, as it's only intentional communications and there is none of the browsing aspect that makes fb notorious. The other advantage is that I no longer have to explain to new people why I'm not on fb, I just add them to messenger. Many years ago, people would actually be insulted if I told them that as they would interpret it as me not wanting to connect with them further. This was particularly true in places outside of Europe and the US where fb pretty much was the internet for people.

3. I had a negative impression of Instagram from the get go. I use it to look at the work of artists and photographers, but exclusively on the laptop. In this specific use case, it's pretty great. The purely social or cultural aspect of it (by that I mean the culture and behavior that is a consequence of the app itself) is absolute cancer in my opinion. Almost like a mental illness and conformity factory unless you already have high social status or some instagrammable quality, in which case you will get much out of it I suppose.

4. Of course, it's one of the oldest traditions in the world for older generations to completely misunderstand the young. I do not envy people growing up today however. The fear of being filmed doing dumb stuff or the constant pressure is no joke.

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#158

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.

Count me as another data point. I deleted my Facebook and Twitter accounts, and it has not affected my social or professional life in any noticeable way. I was worried I would lose access to my Oculus purchases, but I did not. The straw that broke the camel’s back was reading my ads profile summary in Facebook settings. It claimed I was in “Established Adult Family Life with Children” or something similar. This was r…

I clicked on "Interest Categories" deep in ad settings and FB is reporting an error. Is there another way to get at its assessment of me?

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#159
post #48

I've gained too much from different Facebook groups (when living abroad for example) and get too much value from important social connections (seeing friend's photos of their kids, for example, or chatting with my one uncle who only uses Messenger) to just ditch Facebook. I don't "use" it very much, but deleting it all together would have a big negative impact on me and I fail to see I what way I would gain.

Anyone who would only delete Facebook for personal gain fits right in with the Facebook ethos, and therefore should not delete Facebook.

Anyone who would do something only for personal gain would make a pretty sweet market theory...

Re: Deleting Facebook permanently

#160
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.

I guess you just never get invited to stuff or have birthday wishes sent your way lol
Post reply on HN