Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

1 in 10 Americans in survey say they deleted their Facebook account over privacy

businessinsider.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 86 posts

Re: 1 in 10 Americans in survey say they deleted their Facebook account over privacy

#11

Post by thunfischbrot »

prepend wrote: post #3

In a survey of people I know, 0 out of infinity kept their Facebook accounts deleted. But lots of people told me they did. Probably 30% of people I know. Some actually deleted. Some said they did and didn’t (really weird since you can see their account). Some thought they did, but screwed it up. Some said they did but switched to Messenger, or WhatsApp or some other part of Facebook. Over the past 5 years, not a sing…

In a survey of people I know, there are many who claim that they "only use it very rarely", most who say they "should use it less", several who quit (incl. me many ca. 2012) and three who never had an account. Those three also never had whatsapp. Those who do not have fb accounts agree that it did not have a noticeable impact on our social lives. We use mail and calls to keep in touch, and we have more to talk about when we see each other, as we have not seen and read about most of each others' experiences already before we meet. The one thing I missed in the beginning was the simplicity of organizing events with people in common networks who I was not close with, e.g. study groups, student parties, study trips, I hear now for parents this also includes kindergarden activities etc.

Re: 1 in 10 Americans in survey say they deleted their Facebook account over privacy

#12

Post by thunfischbrot »

mr_spothawk wrote: post #6
prepend wrote: post #3

In a survey of people I know, 0 out of infinity kept their Facebook accounts deleted. But lots of people told me they did. Probably 30% of people I know. Some actually deleted. Some said they did and didn’t (really weird since you can see their account). Some thought they did, but screwed it up. Some said they did but switched to Messenger, or WhatsApp or some other part of Facebook. Over the past 5 years, not a sing…

I kept my facebook, but deleted my social graph.

What does that mean? Honestly curious, does it mean unfriending everyone?

Re: 1 in 10 Americans in survey say they deleted their Facebook account over privacy

#13

Post by rdiddly »

prepend wrote: post #3

In a survey of people I know, 0 out of infinity kept their Facebook accounts deleted. But lots of people told me they did. Probably 30% of people I know. Some actually deleted. Some said they did and didn’t (really weird since you can see their account). Some thought they did, but screwed it up. Some said they did but switched to Messenger, or WhatsApp or some other part of Facebook. Over the past 5 years, not a sing…

No but they mention #deletefacebook "trending" (i.e. on Twitter, without even mentioning Twitter and apparently without seeing the irony).

You might know a lot of people who want social cred for deleting their accounts, without actually deleting them. But it's also possible that Facebook is keeping those accounts active on purpose so others will continue interacting with them, which is a tool of temptation they can use to get those users to come back.

100% of the people I am deleted their Facebook account long ago, based on a fairly dispassionate assessment of the user experience and the loss of productivity when saddled with it.

Re: 1 in 10 Americans in survey say they deleted their Facebook account over privacy

#15

Post by 908087 »

evo_9 wrote: post #14

So if you have never had a FB account, is there a way to delete your shadow profile and/or even check if they have one on you?

If any number of people have your phone number in their contact list, and any number of those use Facebook/WhatsApp/etc, then at the very least it's highly likely that Facebook has a shadow profile containing a portion of your social connections.

Re: 1 in 10 Americans in survey say they deleted their Facebook account over privacy

#16

Post by bowlich »

prepend wrote: post #3

In a survey of people I know, 0 out of infinity kept their Facebook accounts deleted. But lots of people told me they did. Probably 30% of people I know. Some actually deleted. Some said they did and didn’t (really weird since you can see their account). Some thought they did, but screwed it up. Some said they did but switched to Messenger, or WhatsApp or some other part of Facebook. Over the past 5 years, not a sing…

I don't understand why go through the hassle of actually deleting (particularly since it is so onerous). It changes nothing. There's probably still a shadow account of the data you gave them. Deleting the account doesn't put everything back in pandora's box.

You can just post that you're abandoning the account with where to reach you online, log out, delete the cookies, and block their domain (what I did) and have the same effect with the bonus that friends can still reach you if they wonder where you went.

Re: 1 in 10 Americans in survey say they deleted their Facebook account over privacy

#17

Post by DenisM »

prepend wrote: post #3

In a survey of people I know, 0 out of infinity kept their Facebook accounts deleted. But lots of people told me they did. Probably 30% of people I know. Some actually deleted. Some said they did and didn’t (really weird since you can see their account). Some thought they did, but screwed it up. Some said they did but switched to Messenger, or WhatsApp or some other part of Facebook. Over the past 5 years, not a sing…

I have unfollowed everyone, except for a few pages that post interesting events. This way I stay abreast of what's happening, yet suffer little consequence of attention-poisoning effects of FB.

Re: 1 in 10 Americans in survey say they deleted their Facebook account over privacy

#18

Post by nightski »

everdev wrote: post #8

I did this years ago to claims even here on HN that people think when you say "I deleted FB" or "I haven't used FB in years" are bragging. I think it's important to spread the message that life goes on outside of FB. If you delete, you'll be in good company. In a less extreme version, try not using it for 10 days and notice how you feel. There will be withdrawal, but if you can't pause a behavior for 10 days, you're…

For the most part I really dislike FB, and have no meaningful relationships on it. But unfortunately many local restaurants, breweries, and biking/activity clubs post activities on FB which I would likely completely miss out on. Until there is a competitor which is able to provide this I'm stuck on FB for the foreseeable future. However my profile is pretty minimal, I haven't shared anything for several years, and I run an adblocker. I don't think this is much more of a privacy concern than not having one as you are still tracked.

Re: 1 in 10 Americans in survey say they deleted their Facebook account over privacy

#20

Post by ilovecars2 »

Thaxll wrote: post #19

This kind of survey are bs, why do people even talk about them. No one care about the privacy issue and people will keep using Facebook.

Having spoken to a number of friends and people I haven’t met on the Facebook groups I was in (theme was all car enthusiasts) - not one of them cared. Their arguments were that Facebook knows everything about them anyway. My flatmate also gave he same opinion when I asked her. I can only assume that the general public just don’t care or feel that they have bigger things to worry about.
Post reply on HN