4 ms·

That's because Facebook is a network and you leave networks. Google is a set of services and you quit services.

freehunter 9y ago
Yeah, when you leave Facebook, you're leaving a lot. You're not just stopping using a piece of software, it's more like you're giving up relationships, you're giving up a piece of your social life. For better or worse, you're probably going to miss something when you stop using Facebook, so there is a tradeoff that needs to be made. You're changing your social contract. It's a big deal. Meanwhile when you stop using Google products... no one notices. No one cares. It's a completely personal decision. I stopped using Google products one by one when I found competitors I liked better and absolutely no one knows and no one asks because no one cares. I can still email Gmail users and they'll never know. I can send someone an address that I got from Apple Maps and they can open it in Google Maps just fine. If they send me a Google Maps link, I can open it in Google Maps because I don't need an account and a profile and a friends list first. I can use Bing or DDG and no one notices. It's a really big deal to stop using Facebook. It's a really big deal to stop working at Google. In both cases you're losing some part of your social identity. Not the case when you're stopping using Google products.
- scottlocklin 9y ago
  I don't miss a thing from quitting facebook, and despite how addictive the damn thing is, it was easily done and my quality of life increased in obvious ways. Potemkin relationships are not relationships.
  - harlanji 9y ago
    Can you (or anyone reading) elaborate on details of how you did it? I'm surgically shrinking it and it's caused a good amount of turbulence... removing without communicating, and communicating removal are both difficult. The latter is probably better. But my ears are open for solutions. I disabled posting to my wall for example, so on my birthday people struck up conversations instead. I anticipate I'll have it open for a while longer, but I'm removing people as we establish side channels so-far. I never added strangers but I'm not attached to everyone, like single conversation partners (I originally typed friends, haha, deprogramming).
    - Klover 9y ago
      That shouldn't be so difficult, friend. Just set that you don't use Facebook much lately, and then just stop going there. Now if you have a problem with staying away, then that's a different question!
    - scottlocklin 9y ago
      I told everyone a week or two before I quit I was gonna quit. Those who wanted to keep in touch had a way to do so. Those who didn't, I don't care about. Downloaded my data, deleted my account, and moved on with life. I think 1-2 people didn't get the memo and didn't read my blog (I blogged about it) and sent me an email wondering WTF. I do have close friends I primarily keep in touch with using online tools; those talk to me on skype or equivalent.
tzakrajs 9y ago
Facebook is an addiction I am sure that I quit.

Yeah, when you leave Facebook, you're leaving a lot. You're not just stopping using a piece of software, it's more like you're giving up relationships, you're giving up a piece of your social life. For better or worse, you're probably going to miss something when you stop using Facebook, so there is a tradeoff that needs to be made. You're changing your social contract. It's a big deal. Meanwhile when you stop using Google products... no one notices. No one cares. It's a completely personal decision. I stopped using Google products one by one when I found competitors I liked better and absolutely no one knows and no one asks because no one cares. I can still email Gmail users and they'll never know. I can send someone an address that I got from Apple Maps and they can open it in Google Maps just fine. If they send me a Google Maps link, I can open it in Google Maps because I don't need an account and a profile and a friends list first. I can use Bing or DDG and no one notices. It's a really big deal to stop using Facebook. It's a really big deal to stop working at Google. In both cases you're losing some part of your social identity. Not the case when you're stopping using Google products.

scottlocklin 9y ago
I don't miss a thing from quitting facebook, and despite how addictive the damn thing is, it was easily done and my quality of life increased in obvious ways. Potemkin relationships are not relationships.
- harlanji 9y ago
  Can you (or anyone reading) elaborate on details of how you did it? I'm surgically shrinking it and it's caused a good amount of turbulence... removing without communicating, and communicating removal are both difficult. The latter is probably better. But my ears are open for solutions. I disabled posting to my wall for example, so on my birthday people struck up conversations instead. I anticipate I'll have it open for a while longer, but I'm removing people as we establish side channels so-far. I never added strangers but I'm not attached to everyone, like single conversation partners (I originally typed friends, haha, deprogramming).
  - Klover 9y ago
    That shouldn't be so difficult, friend. Just set that you don't use Facebook much lately, and then just stop going there. Now if you have a problem with staying away, then that's a different question!
  - scottlocklin 9y ago
    I told everyone a week or two before I quit I was gonna quit. Those who wanted to keep in touch had a way to do so. Those who didn't, I don't care about. Downloaded my data, deleted my account, and moved on with life. I think 1-2 people didn't get the memo and didn't read my blog (I blogged about it) and sent me an email wondering WTF. I do have close friends I primarily keep in touch with using online tools; those talk to me on skype or equivalent.

tzakrajs 9y ago

Facebook is an addiction I am sure that I quit.