4 ms·

> "Deleting the app" from your mobile is like an overweight person hiding the cookies or a cigarette smoker hiding their cigarettes - it's at least a conscious

by ardy42 8y ago

> "Deleting the app" from your mobile is like an overweight person hiding the cookies or a cigarette smoker hiding their cigarettes - it's at least a conscious decision to make better choices, however everyone knows it won't work until you actually stop the behavior. I disagree. A cookie jar doesn't encourage you to make bad choices by nagging you to eat another cookie if you haven't had one in while. Facebook will try to grab your attention any way it can to get you to make the bad choice to open up their app another time. A practical and effective way to escape those attempts is to delete their software from your devices.

josefresco 8y ago
A practical and effective way to escape those attempts is to delete <strike>their software from your devices</strike> your account. There's also an argument to be made, that cookie makers want you to keep eating cookies, just like Facebook wants you to keep "sharing". Facebook has an advantage (living on a device you obsess over), however those cookies you hid on top of your refrigerator ... are they whispering to me?
- ardy42 8y ago
  > A practical and effective way to escape those attempts is to delete <strike>their software from your devices</strike> your account. That is another way to do it, but it might not fit many people's lifestyles as well intermediate measures like deleting the app. Facebook is a communication channel, just like email and the telephone, and totally deleting your account has definite costs that vary from person to person. I think it's totally fine for people to manage how they make their own tradeoffs, and I know for a fact that the most extreme action is often more than is really required to get resuts. Take myself, for example. I'm quite anti-facebook and hardly ever use their software. But I haven't deleted my account because I have friends and acquaintances who still use it for event planning, and I don't want to be either left out or be a prima donna demands special treatment. I get an email notification when I get an invite, and I only log in to RSVP and check the event info.
  - beat 8y ago
    That's a problem for me, too. I'm in a few bands and otherwise host events, and I'm involved in other performance scenes, so FB events are really important to me. They're the #1 reason I can't give it up completely.
    - ryandrake 8y ago
      Meetup, Evite, probably many more in this space. All you need to invite someone is an E-mail address.
      - beat 8y ago
        In theory. In practice, it means signing up for another service for most people. Social penetration of Meetup/Evite/etc is far lower than that of Facebook.
      - ardy42 8y ago
        > Meetup, Evite, probably many more in this space. All you need to invite someone is an E-mail address. I could use one of those to plan an event, but there's no way that I can force people to use them to invite me to and event they're planning instead of Facebook. If they choose to use Facebook, I'm not getting an invite unless I have a Facebook account. My solution to that problem is to leave up a vestigial Facebook account that I never use and very obviously communicates that I no longer use the site. It contributes to the impression that Facebook use declining and ensures I won't miss anything.
  - ryandrake 8y ago
    This will go down as one of Facebook’s most brilliant and effective marketing achievements: They’ve instilled this irrational fear in over a billion people that their social lives will suddenly collapse without Facebook. Any time you suggest to someone (who already dislikes FB) to delete their FB account or just stop using it, you get this totally predictable stream of excuses as to why they can’t live without it. There is probably a marketing slide deck at Facebook headquarters somewhere with all these excuses written down as goals and planned. Total genius on their part. I don’t remember the last time I’ve logged in to Facebook (over 7 years ago?) and I assure you my social life is more robust than ever. If you don’t like Facebook or what it’s turning the world into, the only thing stopping you from quitting is yourself.

by ardy42 8y ago

josefresco 8y ago

A practical and effective way to escape those attempts is to delete <strike>their software from your devices</strike> your account. There's also an argument to be made, that cookie makers want you to keep eating cookies, just like Facebook wants you to keep "sharing". Facebook has an advantage (living on a device you obsess over), however those cookies you hid on top of your refrigerator ... are they whispering to me?

ardy42 8y ago
> A practical and effective way to escape those attempts is to delete <strike>their software from your devices</strike> your account. That is another way to do it, but it might not fit many people's lifestyles as well intermediate measures like deleting the app. Facebook is a communication channel, just like email and the telephone, and totally deleting your account has definite costs that vary from person to person. I think it's totally fine for people to manage how they make their own tradeoffs, and I know for a fact that the most extreme action is often more than is really required to get resuts. Take myself, for example. I'm quite anti-facebook and hardly ever use their software. But I haven't deleted my account because I have friends and acquaintances who still use it for event planning, and I don't want to be either left out or be a prima donna demands special treatment. I get an email notification when I get an invite, and I only log in to RSVP and check the event info.
- beat 8y ago
  That's a problem for me, too. I'm in a few bands and otherwise host events, and I'm involved in other performance scenes, so FB events are really important to me. They're the #1 reason I can't give it up completely.
  - ryandrake 8y ago
    Meetup, Evite, probably many more in this space. All you need to invite someone is an E-mail address.
    - beat 8y ago
      In theory. In practice, it means signing up for another service for most people. Social penetration of Meetup/Evite/etc is far lower than that of Facebook.
    - ardy42 8y ago
      > Meetup, Evite, probably many more in this space. All you need to invite someone is an E-mail address. I could use one of those to plan an event, but there's no way that I can force people to use them to invite me to and event they're planning instead of Facebook. If they choose to use Facebook, I'm not getting an invite unless I have a Facebook account. My solution to that problem is to leave up a vestigial Facebook account that I never use and very obviously communicates that I no longer use the site. It contributes to the impression that Facebook use declining and ensures I won't miss anything.
- ryandrake 8y ago
  This will go down as one of Facebook’s most brilliant and effective marketing achievements: They’ve instilled this irrational fear in over a billion people that their social lives will suddenly collapse without Facebook. Any time you suggest to someone (who already dislikes FB) to delete their FB account or just stop using it, you get this totally predictable stream of excuses as to why they can’t live without it. There is probably a marketing slide deck at Facebook headquarters somewhere with all these excuses written down as goals and planned. Total genius on their part. I don’t remember the last time I’ve logged in to Facebook (over 7 years ago?) and I assure you my social life is more robust than ever. If you don’t like Facebook or what it’s turning the world into, the only thing stopping you from quitting is yourself.