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Deleting Facebook

robertheaton.com

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Re: Deleting Facebook

#21

Post by jonstewart »

room505 wrote: post #14

I remember watching a PBS Frontline episode about Facebook and they mentioned how they're able to create a profile of anyone basically because they purchase profiles from credit card companies and credit agencies. So even if you delete it, they still have your profile and match it with these other companies and are able to sell the data like nothing happened.

That’s true, but Metcalfe’s Law works both ways: a small reduction in the size of the network significantly decreases the value of the network.

Re: Deleting Facebook

#22

Post by cmiller1 »

I check Facebook maybe once a week at most. I don't really use it anymore but I have a handful of contacts that still use it as their main social networking platform so I use it to see if I've gotten a message from them or if my D&D group wants to get together (hasn't been an issue for about a year, sadly). Sometimes if I'm not expecting anything from them I'll go a month without looking at it.

I've been kicking facebook out of my life by accident simply by the virtue of it becoming less and less useful for me.

Re: Deleting Facebook

#23

Post by 2pEXgD0fZ5cF »

Abishek_Muthian wrote: post #12

Those who are planning to delete all Facebook activity(posts) instead of deleting FB account itself, please note that FB seems to be hiding posts at random in the activity log when it detects unusual deleting spree and pops it up on a later date at a random interval. I still find some 10 year old cringe post being the only post in my timeline occasionally, something which should have been deleted several years ago wh…

That was my plan a while ago, just delete all my posts and undo everything I can.

Doing this manually is an unpleasant undertaking riddled from start to finish with dark patterns that can only be described as malicious and petty.

I did not use a tool and did not even have many posts or likes and I was still unable to remove everything after 3 (!) runs. And even then I had to ask others for help to confirm whether something was truly gone because what Facebook showed me and what it showed others differed. Because of those tactics employed by Facebook I'm still unsure whether I got everything...

God I wish I never created an account, I certainly do not miss its usage even a bit but it feels like such a stain on my digital life.

Re: Deleting Facebook

#24

Post by jonstewart »

nazgulsenpai wrote: post #11

I deleted my Facebook account last month and I haven't missed it at all. Sure, I get the occasional "is everything okay" text message for leaving, but so far, everyone has completely understood, with the majority saying something similar to "I should get rid of mine too" usually followed by some reason why they won't (old friends, relatives, all of their photos etc). It's not that hard. You can download your entire p…

I did likewise. I’d mostly stopped posting a few years ago and simply commented sometimes on others’ posts. But whereas Facebook used to be fun and a place where one’s friends and family shared about their lives, which had genuine and unique utility, it has become instead a platform where people share links/news. And not a good one. I don’t care about what outrage outlet a high school classmate reads or the hot take of a Boomer relative; Facebook has become a real world paper clip AI, churning out “engagement” by appealing to our baser psychological habits and offering each user little actual value.

I still find myself typing “fb” in a browser bar sometimes as I’m surfing and bored, but I don’t miss it; I’m spending more time reading NYT, WaPo, the New Yorker, The Atlantic, and researching topics of my own interest.

Re: Deleting Facebook

#25

Post by Daniel_sk »

Abishek_Muthian wrote: post #12

Those who are planning to delete all Facebook activity(posts) instead of deleting FB account itself, please note that FB seems to be hiding posts at random in the activity log when it detects unusual deleting spree and pops it up on a later date at a random interval. I still find some 10 year old cringe post being the only post in my timeline occasionally, something which should have been deleted several years ago wh…

I am glad to hear I am not the only one - these old posts would appear over a course of months sometimes. I used an automation tool to delete eveything and then I went and manually clicked through the Activity log and deleted everything I could. I did several of these rounds to clear everything.

Re: Deleting Facebook

#26

Post by u678u »

My kid's school and my apartment building sends out updates on Facebook. Its kinda sad there is nothing else that majority of people can use to listen on (other than email).

Re: Deleting Facebook

#27

Post by justinclift »

Abishek_Muthian wrote: post #12

Those who are planning to delete all Facebook activity(posts) instead of deleting FB account itself, please note that FB seems to be hiding posts at random in the activity log when it detects unusual deleting spree and pops it up on a later date at a random interval. I still find some 10 year old cringe post being the only post in my timeline occasionally, something which should have been deleted several years ago wh…

Wonder if this is just an example of how their particular "distributed, eventually consistent" platform operates due to CAP tradeoffs?

Re: Deleting Facebook

#28

Post by malwrar »

Somehow I’ve never had a Facebook account this entire time, is there anything I’ve been missing with it? I keep seeing posts like this, but I haven’t really understood what makes quitting it so hard.

Re: Deleting Facebook

#29

Post by willxinc »

justinclift wrote: post #27
Abishek_Muthian wrote: post #12

Those who are planning to delete all Facebook activity(posts) instead of deleting FB account itself, please note that FB seems to be hiding posts at random in the activity log when it detects unusual deleting spree and pops it up on a later date at a random interval. I still find some 10 year old cringe post being the only post in my timeline occasionally, something which should have been deleted several years ago wh…

Wonder if this is just an example of how their particular "distributed, eventually consistent" platform operates due to CAP tradeoffs?

This is more likely the case then some conspiracy against users.

Re: Deleting Facebook

#30

Post by willxinc »

Abishek_Muthian wrote: post #12

Those who are planning to delete all Facebook activity(posts) instead of deleting FB account itself, please note that FB seems to be hiding posts at random in the activity log when it detects unusual deleting spree and pops it up on a later date at a random interval. I still find some 10 year old cringe post being the only post in my timeline occasionally, something which should have been deleted several years ago wh…

Thinking about this from an implementation perspective, I don't see how it would help any metrics and there's probably better explanations for what's going on then a purposeful dark pattern.
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