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Why post anything on that site at all? I recommend deleting all of your content and then deleting the account. For some people, it may require a period of rest

Why post anything on that site at all? I recommend deleting all of your content and then deleting the account. For some people, it may require a period of restructuring your life around other services before completing the process though. Here is one recipe for getting away: First, get a browser extension that blocks the newsfeed. This will help reduce some of the psychological manipulations. Delete all of their apps from your phone and other devices, including Facebook, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Onavo. Turn off all notifications from Facebook. If they don't stop sending notifications, start marking the emails as spam. Download all of your FB data. Start joining other, distributed communities to start replacing your online social life with something better: meetup groups, forums, IRC/Gitter/Slack/etc. Whenever someone sends you a message on Facebook, immediately move the conversation to email or text message and tell them to use email or SMS to contact you, since you are moving all conversations off of Facebook in preparation for leaving the site. Start deleting all posts, comments, and photos on the site. It can take a while, even with a script. Don't post anything new on Facebook. Start a blog (using something like Metalsmith, Hugo, Hexo + Github Pages or Netlify) if you have an urge to post things online. By that point, the pull of Facebook will have faded, and it should be pretty easy to leave the site and not look back.

camillomiller 9y ago
Oh I’d love ti do that, but it would harm both my social and professional life in ways I can’t really afford. I do feel captive, with only myself to blame.
- JoshMnem 9y ago
  > Oh I’d love ti do that, but it would harm both my social and professional life in ways I can’t really afford. That's what I thought until I did it. It's a big illusion in most cases. Start the process now, and you should be able to reach a point where it won't be as difficult, even if it takes a couple of years. I suspect that many (most?) people who believe that leaving Facebook will hurt their professional lives actually hurt their professional lives more by spending so many hours on Facebook. The average person apparently spends 50 minutes per day on Facebook. That is over 300 hours per year. Many people spend much more than 50 minutes per day on Facebook. 2.5 hours per day, 7 days per week, is almost equivalent to a part-time job. There are much more effective ways to improve social and professional life with 50+ minutes per day to work on them. I recommend keeping track of time spent on Facebook (including reading links visited via Facebook). Compare what you learned there vs. what you would learn from spending the same amount of time reading books, taking an online course, working, or meeting people in-person instead. Or multiply that number of hours by your hourly rate...
  - camillomiller 9y ago
    >I suspect that many (most?) people who believe that leaving Facebook will hurt their professional lives actually hurt their professional lives more by spending so many hours on Facebook. Boy, does that ring true...
muxator 9y ago
Doesn't it sound scaringly similar to an advice on how to free yourself from drug or alcohol dependency? How to prevent to get there in the first place? If of any help, I can testify that life post-facebook is as colorful as one would expect.

camillomiller 9y ago

Oh I’d love ti do that, but it would harm both my social and professional life in ways I can’t really afford. I do feel captive, with only myself to blame.

JoshMnem 9y ago
> Oh I’d love ti do that, but it would harm both my social and professional life in ways I can’t really afford. That's what I thought until I did it. It's a big illusion in most cases. Start the process now, and you should be able to reach a point where it won't be as difficult, even if it takes a couple of years. I suspect that many (most?) people who believe that leaving Facebook will hurt their professional lives actually hurt their professional lives more by spending so many hours on Facebook. The average person apparently spends 50 minutes per day on Facebook. That is over 300 hours per year. Many people spend much more than 50 minutes per day on Facebook. 2.5 hours per day, 7 days per week, is almost equivalent to a part-time job. There are much more effective ways to improve social and professional life with 50+ minutes per day to work on them. I recommend keeping track of time spent on Facebook (including reading links visited via Facebook). Compare what you learned there vs. what you would learn from spending the same amount of time reading books, taking an online course, working, or meeting people in-person instead. Or multiply that number of hours by your hourly rate...
- camillomiller 9y ago
  >I suspect that many (most?) people who believe that leaving Facebook will hurt their professional lives actually hurt their professional lives more by spending so many hours on Facebook. Boy, does that ring true...

muxator 9y ago

Doesn't it sound scaringly similar to an advice on how to free yourself from drug or alcohol dependency? How to prevent to get there in the first place? If of any help, I can testify that life post-facebook is as colorful as one would expect.