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“I am doing this — after being on Facebook for nearly 12 years — because my own values and the policies and actions of Facebook have diverged to the point where

“I am doing this — after being on Facebook for nearly 12 years — because my own values and the policies and actions of Facebook have diverged to the point where I’m no longer comfortable here,” he wrote on Facebook.

adrianhon 8y ago
He wrote that as a final message to his followers on Facebook. Seems reasonable. You can see the full message here: https://www.facebook.com/waltmossberg1/posts/10161060096925063 https://www.facebook.com/waltmossberg1/posts/101610600969250...
finaliteration 8y ago
I’m not totally clear on how his posting on Facebook invalidates his message (assuming that’s the argument being made by posting this comment). Facebook is, for better or worse, one of the best ways to get a message out to many people, especially if they are friends or followers. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to post a final “I’m leaving Facebook” message there so everyone sees it.
- mindgam3 8y ago
  Apologies if it was unclear. My intent in posting his message was to summarize the article and because I personally found it concise and inspiring. I do not think it is unreasonable at all for him to have posted it there. In fact I think it’s a powerful statement.
  - finaliteration 8y ago
    Makes sense. Sorry for the confusion on my part.
    - mindgam3 8y ago
      No worries. HN is a tough crowd and sincerity or sarcasm can be hard to interpret over text. I have seen people using /s to reduce confusion here and I try to follow that convention when I can’t resist revealing my jaded and cynical side.
- diminoten 8y ago
  I think we can talk about this in a non-gotcha sense, so for what it's worth, it is interesting that he felt the best way to reach his audience with this message was the platform he's leaving. If he had a better way of reaching his audience, why not use that instead?
  - ska 8y ago
    Because this is the best way to reach people who wouldn't see it any other way? If some subset of your friends/connections are only reachable by Facebook, they are the ones you are going to disconnect with by doing this. Makes sense to me.
    - diminoten 8y ago
      Well yes, but it's interesting, to me anyway, that Facebook is that platform for him, the platform where he can connect with the biggest number of his audience.
      - philipov 8y ago
        But this is obvious, otherwise leaving Facebook wouldn't be noteworthy at all. That's ultimately why he's on Facebook in the first place. If Facebook were ineffective at providing people with network effects, it would not be necessary to get people to leave it.
      - ska 8y ago
        It holds even if it isn’t the biggest number. It could be a small number, but how else would you reach them?
        diminoten 8y ago
        If Facebook is the only way to reach your audience, maybe don't quit it? It clearly isn't here, so his post would have made more sense outside of Facebook.
  - nathan_long 8y ago
- tivert 8y ago
  > I don’t think it’s unreasonable to post a final “I’m leaving Facebook” message there so everyone sees it. Especially if an important part of that message is to disseminate a forwarding address.
blueboo 8y ago
Oh dear. https://thenib.com/mister-gotcha https://thenib.com/mister-gotcha
- mindgam3 8y ago
  I believe you are misinterpreting my point as discussed in another previous reply. To be clear, I am not calling “gotcha” on Walt Mossberg, I am supporting his statement.
miles 8y ago
The confusion around this comment may have been avoided by putting double quotes around the whole thing (since it is lifted verbatim from the article) and single quotes around Mossberg's statement. Or even just prepending a right angle bracket (>) at the beginning of the quote. Surrounding the text with asterisks to italicize it is also an option, but may be less recognizable. I must admit to also having read the comment as being in the spirit of Mister Gotcha, cited by bluboo below: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18708394 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18708394
michaelcampbell 8y ago
Yes, that is, in fact, a fact.

adrianhon 8y ago

He wrote that as a final message to his followers on Facebook. Seems reasonable. You can see the full message here: https://www.facebook.com/waltmossberg1/posts/10161060096925063 https://www.facebook.com/waltmossberg1/posts/101610600969250...

finaliteration 8y ago

I’m not totally clear on how his posting on Facebook invalidates his message (assuming that’s the argument being made by posting this comment). Facebook is, for better or worse, one of the best ways to get a message out to many people, especially if they are friends or followers. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to post a final “I’m leaving Facebook” message there so everyone sees it.

mindgam3 8y ago
Apologies if it was unclear. My intent in posting his message was to summarize the article and because I personally found it concise and inspiring. I do not think it is unreasonable at all for him to have posted it there. In fact I think it’s a powerful statement.
- finaliteration 8y ago
  Makes sense. Sorry for the confusion on my part.
  - mindgam3 8y ago
    No worries. HN is a tough crowd and sincerity or sarcasm can be hard to interpret over text. I have seen people using /s to reduce confusion here and I try to follow that convention when I can’t resist revealing my jaded and cynical side.
diminoten 8y ago
I think we can talk about this in a non-gotcha sense, so for what it's worth, it is interesting that he felt the best way to reach his audience with this message was the platform he's leaving. If he had a better way of reaching his audience, why not use that instead?
- ska 8y ago
  Because this is the best way to reach people who wouldn't see it any other way? If some subset of your friends/connections are only reachable by Facebook, they are the ones you are going to disconnect with by doing this. Makes sense to me.
  - diminoten 8y ago
    Well yes, but it's interesting, to me anyway, that Facebook is that platform for him, the platform where he can connect with the biggest number of his audience.
    - philipov 8y ago
      But this is obvious, otherwise leaving Facebook wouldn't be noteworthy at all. That's ultimately why he's on Facebook in the first place. If Facebook were ineffective at providing people with network effects, it would not be necessary to get people to leave it.
    - ska 8y ago
      It holds even if it isn’t the biggest number. It could be a small number, but how else would you reach them?
      - diminoten 8y ago
        If Facebook is the only way to reach your audience, maybe don't quit it? It clearly isn't here, so his post would have made more sense outside of Facebook.
- nathan_long 8y ago
tivert 8y ago
> I don’t think it’s unreasonable to post a final “I’m leaving Facebook” message there so everyone sees it. Especially if an important part of that message is to disseminate a forwarding address.

blueboo 8y ago

Oh dear. https://thenib.com/mister-gotcha https://thenib.com/mister-gotcha

mindgam3 8y ago
I believe you are misinterpreting my point as discussed in another previous reply. To be clear, I am not calling “gotcha” on Walt Mossberg, I am supporting his statement.

miles 8y ago

The confusion around this comment may have been avoided by putting double quotes around the whole thing (since it is lifted verbatim from the article) and single quotes around Mossberg's statement. Or even just prepending a right angle bracket (>) at the beginning of the quote. Surrounding the text with asterisks to italicize it is also an option, but may be less recognizable. I must admit to also having read the comment as being in the spirit of Mister Gotcha, cited by bluboo below: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18708394 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18708394

michaelcampbell 8y ago

Yes, that is, in fact, a fact.