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Ask HN: Did you delete your Facebook account in 2018?

• jeff8754445 8y ago
  hello guys am Bob,i hired a professional hacker,when i suspect my wife was cheating on me.it all started when she changed her phone code,i tried talking to her about it this but she won’t accept the fact that she was cheating on me. all thanks to {spylordhack at gmail dot com} who helped by hacking my wife mobile,i get to know she was cheating for so long,though i was so sad but everything because i love her so much but am also happy am over it. if you need help you should contact spylord OR text +1(502) 353-0457 i referred you in..
• jeff8754445 8y ago
  hello guys am Jeff,i hired a professional hacker,when i suspect my wife was cheating on me.it all started when she changed her phone code,i tried talking to her about it this but she won’t accept the fact that she was cheating on me. all thanks to {spylordhack at gmail dot com} who helped by hacking my wife mobile,i get to know she was cheating for so long,though i was so sad but everything because i love her so much but am also happy am over it. if you need help you should contact spylord OR text +1(502) 353-0457 i referred you in..
• gibatronic 8y ago
  No. Instead, I unfollowed almost everyone! So far to me, it seems to be the best of both worlds: having & not having Facebook.
• timkofu 8y ago
  Yes I did.
• dade_ 8y ago
  No, in 2014. Bunch of yellowbellies.
• cft 8y ago
  No but I uninstalled the app in 2016 and stop posting. I only use it as White Pages now
• mortivore 8y ago
  Yes. I wasn't using it for the last few years. Just decided to pull the trigger, and end it this year.
• __d 8y ago
  No, but I deleted it in 2017, and didn't really miss it in 2018.
• decasteve 8y ago
  I deleted Instagram early 2017 and Facebook/Twitter/Google+/LinkedIn/etc in 2016. Most/many of the contacts I then migrated to email and birthdays to my calendar/reminders. I’m happier keeping in touch with people this way.
• miguelrochefort 8y ago
  No. I use Messenger daily, and Feed weekly.
• zenexer 8y ago
  Almost. I started the process—downloaded all my data, etc. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go through with it for reasons I’m embarrassed to admit: 1. One entire side of my extended family relies on it for all familial communications. I was forced to use Facebook Messenger recently to help with wedding planning, for example. These people are addicted to it an have invested everything in it—Facebook knows their entire lives. 2. People post pictures of me on Facebook despite my objections. Continuously. They tag me—despite my objections. With an account, I can make it difficult for an average person to find photos of me. 3. I have zero faith that Facebook will stop tracking me, storing my data, or doing stuff I don’t want them to do if I delete my account. I have zero faith that they’d stop even if I got a court order. I know several people who work at various positions in Facebook. Every time they talk about the company, it sounds worse and worse. I’m slowly transitioning from, “They’re just another big data miner,” to, “They’re a truly evil company that goes out of their way to be deceptive and would sell their soul—no, my soul—for a cheeseburger.”
  • hkai 8y ago
    Why delete though? Just keep it inactive. I use my account maybe like a few times a year, as well as a couple of fake accounts for logins to other sites. I think it will hurt more if you don't delete the account but don't use it much because it reduces revenue per user, or ad views per user.
  • unicornporn 8y ago
    > I couldn’t go through with it for reasons I’m embarrassed to admit Quitting Facebook may not a choice without severe consequences. I'm lucky enough to be able to stay away from Facebook, but I know everyone isn't in the same position. It's important to acknowledge that Facebook is inextricably intertwined with many peoples professional and social lives. Your workplace may require you to Workplace by Facebook for collaboration. The parents group at your childs school may only communicate via Facebook. Perhaps the bachelors party of a dear friend may be planned via Facebook. Embarrassment is the last thing you should feel for being trapped by this tyrant.
    • shock 8y ago
• _jn 8y ago
  Yes. I no longer had a need for it after leaving the private group I joined for.
• simplecomplex 8y ago
  No, but I started posting to my own website instead, and syndicating the content to FB, Twitter, Instagram, and Mastadon. I also use brid.gy fed to backfeed Twitter and Instagram to my blog. For private messaging, I use email.
• franciscop 8y ago
  No, I deleted it in 2017 (or was it 2016?) :)
• georgeecollins 8y ago
  Yes. Now my wife complains I act smug about every social media story. Otherwise all fine.
• williamstein 8y ago
  No. I love sharing random pictures of my dog with my mother, and other friends and relatives. Facebook works really well for this.
• DyslexicAtheist 8y ago
  yes already in January. Deleted twitter last month. Next up will be Linkedin (before the year ends). As of Jan 2019 I've decided to no longer carry a mobile phone (it will be switched off with batteries removed in a drawer for at least 1 year then I'll decide if I want to keep using it or not). Babysteps ...
  • DyslexicAtheist 8y ago
    PS: one of the projects on my mind is a small faraday cage at the entrance of my home right next to the wardrobe. It will be a "feature" I offer for visiting friends to show them what it's like to unplug for an evening. It will be non optional for anyone spending time at my house. Any visitors (guests or otherwise) entering my home will have to use it.
  • ravenstine 8y ago
    > Next up will be Linkedin Linkedin is a tough one for me. Although I can't say its social networking has ever provided a lick of value, the Easy Apply and One-Click Apply feature for job postings is incredibly nice and has been pretty effective for me. Maybe I'll get rid of my account once I land my next gig soon.
• rabidrat 8y ago
  Yes, and just organized our first NYE party via email (evite).
• Jaruzel 8y ago
  No, as sometimes I dip back in to see what some of my friends who refuse to quit it are up to, as they don't post elsewhere. I don't post, and my profile has been purged of all posts and content[1]. For now this will have to be good enough. I did find out recently that you can now delete your 'Facebook profile' but keep your login just for Messenger' though. --- [1] https://github.com/Jaruzel/DeleteFacebookActivity https://github.com/Jaruzel/DeleteFacebookActivity
• sedeki 8y ago
  Yes, I did. Second time. Hopefully I can resist to join a third time.
• codewritinfool 8y ago
  Yes.
• superasn 8y ago
  No but it's just totally irrelevant for me now. Its been almost a month and I didn't even think about it until now, so it's like dozens of accounts that I have (like yahoo mail) which even though I have in theory are completely useless and irrelevant to me. But I don't plan on deleting it since I may have a use for it some day and I would like to have that option just in case.
• blck 8y ago
  I did delete my Facebook account (this past week). I forgot to download all the data they had on me but I had a download from earlier in the year (maybe a few months ago) and that's sufficient enough for me since I made very few posts to Facebook this year. In the lead up to deleting facebook, I deleted many "friends," removed all my likes, and deleted every single picture I could. Unfortunately I can still be seen in pictures others have posted to Facebook. I will admit that I still have Instagram installed on my phone. I could probably delete it and not miss anything but there are some interesting people I follow.
• mcbutterbunz 8y ago
  Yes but I still have my Instagram account. Deleting my account was a cross between protest and lack of use.
• phillipamann 8y ago
  Yes. I deleted everything except LinkedIn this year. I will delete that soon. I wish I could delete everything including this site...
  • DSingularity 8y ago
    Why this site ?
    • phillipamann 8y ago
      I feel that this site is just as addictive and with marginal utility as so many other sites and social networks on the internet.
  • friedman23 8y ago
    Agreed, as someone that's never used facebook, I see a lot of the criticisms levied against it and think hacker news and other forms of social news are just as damaging.
    • phillipamann 8y ago
      I've read enough books about the internet now to realize that all of the benefits come with costs. I can be just as addicted to any of the information spouts on the internet. Hacker News provides the same sort of response for me as Facebook might for someone else. It is almost ironic but it is harder to 'delete' Hacker News than Facebook because of the walled garden approach of Facebook.
  • sgt 8y ago
    I see more value in keeping FB than LinkedIn. LinkedIn is just a sad recruitment agent party these days.
    • phillipamann 8y ago
      I think to me the value is equal in a way. It comes down to fear of missing out. What events/social activities will I miss out on by not having Facebook? What possible job/career opportunities will I miss out on by not having LinkedIn?
• misiti3780 8y ago
  yes, and i blocked all of their ips in my /etc/host file also. i still use whatapp to talk to people in other parts of the world, but not too often. my advice to people that say they need it to keep in contact with family - try something like groupme, you do not need facebook
• dmitrybrant 8y ago
  I did not, but I most certainly do not "use" it anymore, aside from the very occasional checkup on old friends (who still use Facebook and no other platforms), and the occasional laugh when an older relative posts "Happy birthay!" on their own wall unintentionally. I have also made sure that I no longer use Facebook authentication on any other sites.
• hrydgard 8y ago
  No, but further reduced my use of it, Instagram and Whatsapp. It's not like deleting is likely to actually do very much anyway...
• garyrichardson 8y ago
  No, but I stopped opening the webpage/app about 2 months ago. Interestingly, the first couple of weeks FB started emailing me whenever someone acted in my feed.. posts, comments, likes, etc. FB is mostly a ghost town for me now so it was interesting to see how desperate it looks when I got an email that someone I hadn't talked to in years "liked a post." In the past week or so, FB has started texted me these updates. I assume they have some data that says it only takes one time opening the app to get someone re-engaged.
• bengrunfeld 8y ago
  YES. I disabled it, and no longer use it. I did not delete it altogether, because all of my contacts are on Facebook Messenger. Honestly, my general happiness rose about 10% after leaving FB. It's trash for the brain, and hurts more than it helps. Get rid of it.
• dbg31415 8y ago
  Deleted it years ago, been actively pushing the people I’m close with on to Signal, and setting up new chat groups there. Signal is great, easy, private with no data mining, and we all have messages set to self delete after a week.
  • regnerba 8y ago
    I was really close to using Signal but ended up going with Wire. The requirement to use a phone number just didn't work for me. The multi-device support was also a bit lacking.
    • dbg31415 8y ago
      Can you elaborate on the "multi-device support" comment? Their app works on my phone and laptop, and I love that it's P2P so they don't have a central server like Wire. I also love that I can set messages to expire and they're gone for everyone. Open-source, secure, and funded by spite. Ha. * WhatsApp Co-Founder Brian Acton Injects $50 Million in Newly Formed Signal Foundation | WIRED || https://www.wired.com/story/signal-foundation-whatsapp-brian-acton/ https://www.wired.com/story/signal-foundation-whatsapp-brian...
      • Marsymars 8y ago
        Different user, but I find the lack of iPad support to be a real drag. I mostly use my iPad around the house, so if I want to use Signal it means I have to trundle over to desk where my laptop is docked. Backing up messages is also pretty clunky and non-automated on Android, and impossible on iOS.
      • regnerba 8y ago
        This basically describes it: https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007320551-Linked-Devices https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007320551-Li... > Multiple mobile devices and Android tablets are not currently supported. Also for me anyways I have changed numbers 3 times in the last 6 years. Once when I moved to Iceland, once when I moved back to Canada, and once due to abuse on my number. Having a service that can be tied to email instead of phone number is awesome. As far as I understand it Signal is basically considered the most secure option out there. After looking at lots of options which primarily included Telegram, Wire, Keybase, and Signal I settled on Wire as the reasonable compromise. I actually really liked Keybase. It was just a little too complicated for random family members. > I also love that I can set messages to expire and they're gone for everyone. Wire has that feature as well. Works on direct messages and can be set on group chats as well.
• danschumann 8y ago
  In the midwest ( a place before people have had a mass exodus ), Facebook still serves a purpose as somewhat of the white pages, in that everyone you have ever known at least has an account. It is a single place to find everyone. If you delete your account, which I did in about 2006 and maybe again in 2008 or so, people thought I specifically unfriended only them, and were mad at me. I would love to see the network (list of people), and connections (friends) to be separated from facebook itself.. so that you could use different websites to still find the full list of people and friends, but didn't need to go through facebook for everything.
  • deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
• dev1n 8y ago
  Responding to this thread would be an excellent way for the poster to discover people who don't have facebook profiles, then create fake profiles on facebook.
• jomoho 8y ago
  I removed the app and only use lite version of messenger to stay in touch with a few people.
• avip 8y ago
  I never had one. But I deleted my Linkedin account to stay cool.
• CharlesW 8y ago
  Yes, deleting all posts (using Social Book Posts Manager[1] IIRC) and other footprints as much as possible before I did. Of course, I can't control whether Facebook actually performed those deletions or just simulated it to my satisfaction. On retrospect I'm now just sick that I was ever caught up in their "engagement at any expense" Skinner Box to the extent that I was. I'd have Facebook open in one tab and start typing f-a-c in a new one before being aware of what I was doing. Facebook is digital lead, digital radon, digital asbestos—pick your metaphor. Life is much better without it. [1] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/social-book-post-manager/ljfidlkcmdmmibngdfikhffffdmphjae?hl=en-US https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/social-book-post-m...
  • devereaux 8y ago
    I didn't use facebook in 2018, and when I tried to buy a Oculus they just cancelled my order. It's hard to not see a relationship. The (lack of) digital footprint and engagement can come back and bite you.
    • aportnoy 8y ago
      What do you mean? What's the relationship?
      • whatshisface 8y ago
        The parent is suggesting that Facebook refused to sell them an Occulus because they were not active enough on the social media website.
        • zapzupnz 8y ago
          Which isn't a strong enough correlation to suggest causation. Sounds a bit too "it's-a-conspiracy-because-it-inconvenienced-me" to ring true to my ears.
    • LUmBULtERA 8y ago
      I don't use Facebook. I have an Oculus. I also don't need a facebook account to use the Oculus.
• wallunit 8y ago
  No, I never used Facebook (or WhatsApp or Instagram) in the first place. ;)
• aantix 8y ago
  No. Because it’s still relevant. And useful.
• matz1 8y ago
  No, still use it, no reason to delete.
• ravenstine 8y ago
  No, but I've just completed exporting as many of my contacts as possible to vcard format and have added them to my Protonmail account. I've also set my existing Gmail accounts to forward to my Protonmail, and I'll sunset those accounts down the road once I'm confident I've transitioned everything off it. Facebook and Google will soon be eliminated from my life. Amazon will probably be next, but I'm less concerned with Amazon(with the exception of Alexa, which I no longer use). My Facebook account is still around mostly because much of my family still uses the site and our private group is where most family news, photos, etc. get posted. Otherwise, my account is basically a "husk". Very few of the people I know who are under 40 use it much at all at this point. The site, in relation to my social circle, is tumbleweeds blowing around. I don't know if I'll ever truly delete my Facebook account, but I hardly go to the site and I've purged my phone of all their software.
  • vinni2 8y ago
    > Facebook and Google will soon be eliminated from my life. I have been trying to do that for a while without success. I have to keep Facebook account because of some professional reasons and at personal level I also it useful to look someone up quickly on Facebook if I am not sure who that person is. As per google some jack ass coworker decides to use google docs and I am forced to keep google account. Sometimes I am also forced to use some google forums for work.
    • regecks 8y ago
      Even if you ditch your voluntary use of their services (like search, docs, forums), you are still faced with things like reCAPTCHA pervasively track your browsing and gatekeeping your access to large swaths of the internet.
      • code_duck 8y ago
        And, if you operate a website, gatekeeping of others access to you.
• barbecue_sauce 8y ago
  Replaced Messenger with Signal. Blocked all Facebook domains, even Instagram, (so many!) in my MacBook's etc/hosts file to "blackhole" any FB tracking. Can no longer sign in on my laptop. Still have Facebook on my phone with Location privileges turned off. This has corresponded with increasingly aggressive notifications on my phone about things that don't directly involve me. I used to I only get notifications about things I posted on or posted myself. Curious if this has happened with anybody else who disengaged.
• CrazedGeek 8y ago
  No, but I also haven't used it in years. Only keep my account around for a few mobile games that only have Facebook Connect as a login option.
• danieldk 8y ago
  Deleted it early in the year. The wall turned into junk anyway in the preceding years, so it was not difficult to quit. My wife still has Facebook, but she rarely mentions any interesting friend/family news sources from Facebook. It seems that Facebook is slowly becoming a Ghetto.
• lousken 8y ago
  No, removed all the data from it, kept it as messanger tho. It's my only way of contacting some people (i don't have whatsapp, instagram etc.)
• regnerba 8y ago
  I have not yet but plan to. I announced my intention to delete it last week. Since then I have been getting as many people as I can, that want it, setup on Wire. The main reason I didn't delete it yet is that I just started my vacation to Iceland and wanted to make sure I can arrange meetings with my friends here for Christmas and New Year's. My plan was, and still is, to delete it on New Year's eve. I did do a bunch of research on different messaging apps before announcing my intention to delete Facebook so that I could point those that want it to another app. Here on the west coast of Canada it's really hard. Everyone uses Facebook messenger for chatting. I am definitely going to lose contact with a number of people when I pull the trigger. Between email, SMS, Discord (along with Steam and Battle.net to a lesser degree), and Wire I should have a way to contact most of the people I currently chat to. It's really hard though and my wife isn't enthusiastic about it as she wants me to stay in contact with her family and they basically just use Facebook. They also live in another country so SMS is more costly. Will be interesting to see how much it effects me next year.
• BerislavLopac 8y ago
  Done it in 2014, been Facebookless (Faceless?) since.
• cm2012 8y ago
  FYI FB's daily user count has been steady in the US for over 3 years at 181m ish. No decline with controversy.
  • reaperducer 8y ago
    considering that the population of the U.S. continues to grow, that stagnation in Facebook users means its percentage of users is shrinking. Based on growth rates over the last three years, as you cite, that means Facebook is missing about 780,000 Americans.
• michaelcampbell 8y ago
  Disabled. Seeing how I manage. So far so good.
• clircle 8y ago
  Deleted Facebook several years ago, but I transitioned by family to WhatsApp this year. (I'm an android user, and whatsapp is much better than Hangouts IMO). I have yet to delete my Google account.
• gregf 8y ago
  Yes, I have lost contact with some people in general, but it's not worth the privacy violations. There's still email and texts if someone needs to reach me. I also deleted twitter around the same time. Mostly because I just don't use it enough. It's just non stop spam on twitter I feel. Nothing of substance from any one I followed.
• basitmakine 8y ago
  I actually, in a strange way, don't really care about all this privacy stuff. A for-profit company looking into my personal preferences just to show me better targeted ads, instead of boring, generic ones? What's better than that? They're either going to charge me monthly subscription fees, which would kill the whole business in an instant, or find a way to make a profit off ads.
  • chrisper 8y ago
    You are right. Nothing better than a company using your private messages for targeted ads!
    • chriswarbo 8y ago
      I don't consider this recent news as any sort of surprise. On the contrary, I have always disapproved of Facebook tricking users into thinking any of the data they hand over is "private".
    • basitmakine 8y ago
      I don't know man. I'm just perfectly ok with them sneak peeking into my conversation trends and extracting key phrases for targeted ads.. I mean, what is the alternative? You can pay subscription fees(noone would), or see generic ads(no company would advertise due to next to zero CR).. Either way, facebook is dead. What makes companies like Facebook, Google etc unique is that, their ability to appease to both sides of the market. If they don't, they simply cannot exist. And lack of privacy is a price we have to pay if we want these services in our lives. Maybe I'm morally corrupt. Idk.
      • whatshisface 8y ago
        An alternative would be to have contextual ads that were based on the present state of the page, but none of your history. This is how it always was, only a few years ago.
        • kaybe 8y ago
• nilshauk 8y ago
  I deleted my account in April this year. At the point of deletion I had created some Facebook pages and had been a very active user for many years. I tried downloading my data through Facebook's built-in account download feature. And I was quite happy with the download. I then wrote up a post about my motivation for leaving which I shared on my Facebook: https://nilsnh.no/2018/04/04/leaving-facebook/ https://nilsnh.no/2018/04/04/leaving-facebook/ I figured it would be better to be vocal about leaving instead of just disappearing without a word. I answered questions and helped some friends join me on Signal. Personally, I'm happy to be investing more of my time in platforms which respect my privacy. And I eagerly encourage people I meet to consider ethically-minded platforms like Signal. Ultimately, I hope to see real, legal consequences towards corporations that disrespect the privacy of its users. Also, if monopoly laws were revised for the digital age we might see that some large corporations should be broken up in order to cultivate better competition.
  • int_x 8y ago
    Dude thank you for the blog post. Its short and straight to the point, you nailed it. When I was reading it (mobile) I was hoping you would mention Signal. Do you mind if I quote your post (and link to it) if I decide to leave facebook? How did it go? It might be pointless, but I'm curious of the outcome/reactions
• flixic 8y ago
  I've uninstalled the app in June and hardly use Instagram. I see no reason to delete Whatsapp because of E2E encryption. Maybe things will change. As for actual account, it's trickier. I have a decent following there, and alternatives don't really exist. Where I live, nobody uses Twitter. Also, Facebook Messenger is by far the most popular messaging platform: so much so that hardly anyone has even heard of Whatsapp, not to mention Signal or Wire. Looks like my FB account is here to stay, unless I figure out a way to reach friends (alternative to Messenger) and followers (alternative to Facebook). Sucks.
• atemerev 8y ago
  I just unfollowed all my friends (back in 2015). They still see me as a friend, I can read their posts individually, I can use FB to communicate with my family — but there is nothing interesting now in my feed, so I am free from addiction. Highly recommended. I don't care much about ethics, Facebook is free to topple governments or play with the very fabric or democracy or whatever — cool stuff to do, I'd join them in a heartbeat. I don't want to be addicted, though.
  • gibatronic 8y ago
    Same, the very problem with Facebook is people themselves. I was on Orkut for years, then everyone migrated to Facebook, guess what... different tool + same people = poop³.
  • nickwalton00 8y ago
    I did the same thing. Unfollowed everyone but super close family and friends. It does wonders to clear addiction. Now I check it for maybe 5-10 minutes once a week and that's it.
• stockkid 8y ago
  I did several years ago. But I still find myself using Messenger and WhatsApp. My goal is to move off those platforms.
• roydivision 8y ago
  I created an account years ago but I have never had any reason, desire or pressure to use it. Even less so now the reality is dawning. I’m also resisting signing up to the corporate version despite some pressure from the company I work for.
• pcunite 8y ago
  Thank you for reminding me to do this.
• crypt1d 8y ago
  Deleted both Facebook and Instagram (requested permanent data deletion etc). Its been a couple of months, and I've never felt better. Sure, I lost touch with some people but managed to find other ways to get in touch whenever I needed to. Not to mention my phone battery now lasts like 3 days and I dont scroll through Instagram like a zombie every time I'm bored for a few seconds.
• qrybam 8y ago
  Yes - in Feb-18. Had pangs of regret some months later .. the network I'd built over many years was an unused asset, I just never looked it like that. Luckily those feelings didn't last long ... I just go on with life.
• sverige 8y ago
  I had an account for about a month in 2010 and deleted it because of the constant notifications for Farmville and some other game. That was my one and only flirtation with any kind of social media (unless you count HN as social media). Haven't looked back, pretty sure I haven't missed anything important in my social life.
• clarry 8y ago
  I never had one.
• Chazprime 8y ago
  I deleted my account in 2017, and it was the best decision I’ve made in a long time. I redoubled efforts to connect with my friends in real life, which is what I thought I’d been doing all along in Facebook. It took some time and the expense of a few airline tickets, but the result was more than worth it.
• 0x4d464d48 8y ago
  Deleted mine way back in 2010. I'd been on it since high school in 2005 and treated it like the new version of MSN Messenger (oh 2002...). After a while it just got stale and it felt like I was pouring way too much of my personal data on to the platform. I think the turning point came after a friend of mine had committed suicide and his profile continued to live on the platform for at least a year. People kept posting to it and it just didn't sit well with me at all and I didn't like the idea of having an FB profile tombstone for myself either. So, I nuked it. Haven't missed it for a second.
  • colsandurz 8y ago
    Me too. Haven't missed it either.
  • jogjayr 8y ago
    Also deleted it in 2010. It's possible I've missed out on something without knowing but I'm happy with my life nevertheless. If you only get updates about someone from their social media, you don't really know them. They're a stranger you know far too much about.
• jetrink 8y ago
  No, but I only log in once a month using incognito mode and I never post. I take any conversations over to email or SMS. I can't leave completely, but I can limit the value that they get from me.
• chriswarbo 8y ago
  No, I've never used it. Or MySpace, Instagram, SnapChat, LinkedIn, FourSquare, etc. I did install Android on my 'phone when it was first released, but at the time its keyboard was hard-coded to specific hardware (the G1 had a physical "jump" button that my 'phone doesn't have, and this was required for typing punctuation). I uninstalled it and went back to Debian, haven't looked back :)
  • procinct 8y ago
    Just to clarify, are you saying you run Debian on your phone? If so how does that all work? What sort of phone do you use?
    • chriswarbo 8y ago
      > Just to clarify, are you saying you run Debian on your phone? Yep. > If so how does that all work? I just installed QtMoko ( http://qtmoko.sourceforge.net http://qtmoko.sourceforge.net ) > What sort of phone do you use? An OpenMoko Freerunner ( http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Neo_FreeRunner http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Neo_FreeRunner )
• codyb 8y ago
  When I asked my friend why be shared something that was clearly fake and he said "some people share things and some people look them up" or some bullshit I decided to unfollow every single person on my feed. Took a while but now when I log in there is nothing, and I basically never log in. I use the messenger sometimes.
• chx 8y ago
  First of all, I do not use the Facebook mobile app, just the website. But -- I deleted my Facebook account very long ago, but I created a new one in 2016 and it's indispensable. Just a few days ago I posted why https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18728223 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18728223
• Teknoman117 8y ago
  I’d delete mine if it weren’t the most reliable way of reaching various friends and family members. That being said, I haven’t posted to it in years. I just use messenger...
• givinguflac 8y ago
  I deleted it a few years ago. Before doing so I unrated myself from everything, unliked everything, replaced all my posts and comments to just an underscore, then deleted each post and finally the account.
• elAhmo 8y ago
  Huh, this is a tricky one. I did not delete it, since I do use it for login to many sites and many friends, coworkers and groups that I find relevant use it, however I took few effective steps that almost eliminated its usage: - turning of notifications - removing the app from the main screen, and putting it in a random folder (I tried deleting it, but for 2FA I need to have its key generator, so I keep the app) This is it. I just checked and in the past week, I used it 14 minutes on mobile, and probably around the same time on desktop. My usage is quite low profile, I tend to post a picture every few months, and check out some groups, but nothing more than that. Instagram on the other end is becoming problematic as its becoming a main social network for almost all of my friends and it is really easy to get sucked into it.
  • acct1771 8y ago
    If you only need it for 2FA, maybe install it on a second Android profile, fast switching is pretty nice
• dijit 8y ago
  I deleted it last year. No negative effects more than a couple of comments from family members and 1/2 events that were only organised via Facebook events. The impact on my life is not large. It’s muted but palpable, I don’t consider myself “better” than anyone else, which is usually the implication that Facebook-account holders seem to have.
• hellofunk 8y ago
  Is there anyway to know, if you delete your Facebook account, if they will process that in accordance with GDPR or not? I believe they are supposed to do something different if you are under the GDPR jurisdiction but I don’t know how they would determine that.
• catacombs 8y ago
  I started the process to delete my Facebook. I'm hardly on the platform, and the only reason I used it was to lurk posts from my high school friends. After a while, and with all the data scandals, I deleted all my posts and requested Facebook to cancel my account. I was hesitant at first but realized I never use it, and I'd be better off without it.
• trulyrandom 8y ago
  Yes, but I haven't noticed much of a different in my life as I wasn't using it obsessively anyway. The only thing I used Facebook for was to follow and sign up for events/parties. I do feel like I'm missing out on some of those ever since I deleted my account.
• Inviz 8y ago
  Yes, didn't miss it. I also deleted twitter, which was far more useful, but still I think it was good idea.
• troquerre 8y ago
  I didn’t delete FB but I cut my usage by >80% using a chrome extension I built to block the newsfeed. That way, I could still use messenger and view tagged posts without getting sucked into the blackhole that is the newsfeed. Here’s the extension if anyone is interested https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/marathon/nkhecjgkfpkkcejhbmfjghcokmhbmoed https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/marathon/nkhecjgkf....
  • mlok 8y ago
    I cut my usage by logging out of Facebook and only using messenger.com (on my desktop browser, i would never install an app)
• mirimir 8y ago
  I deleted my meatspace account a couple years ago. Mirimir still has one,[0] but I no longer have the email account, or know the password. But I did a nice job on the photo, no? 0) https://www.facebook.com/vladimira.arseniev https://www.facebook.com/vladimira.arseniev
• starik36 8y ago
  I haven't and don't plan to. I don't really post - maybe once in six months. It's great for what it is - keeping up with what's going on in your family and friend base. What bothers me more than Facebook though are all these self-righteous people, that obviously know more than everyone else, calling on everybody to quit FB. It's almost a religion to them. MYOFB.
• placebo 8y ago
  I opened an account long ago - I think around the same year Facebook started. I never really understood the appeal in the first place, but I keep the account around for the odd chance someone from the past might want to get in touch. I'm not exactly Facebook's dream user. Other than confirm friend requests from people I know once every few months, I have no use for it.
• m0zg 8y ago
  Nope, but I did kick the habit of visiting it multiple times daily. Now I login once a month or so (in incognito), check the updates from my real, actual friends of family, and close it until next time. I also don't post anything there. I do use Instagram, however.
• Iknown0thing 8y ago
  I deleted Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, twitter, uber. I have stopped using chrome on my computer and device. I dont use google for most searches on my personal computer. I have gone back to relying on a RSS feed to keep up with the news. And have disabled all personalisation features on my google pixel 2. It is impressive how truly evil companies are becoming in silicon valley. I was recently at a Kent Beck talk (yow 2018). Where he went in great lengths to tell us how people can use facebook to elect fascists. I assume he means Trump. On the other hand, he also said that from the inside Facebook does not feel like it is doing anything nasty. As a complete outsider to silicon valley - has valley basically become group think and finding it difficult to have discussions around morality and collective responsibility. Purely relying on "thought leaders", usually tech-journalists to drive these discussions?
• newman8r 8y ago
  I deleted it several years ago, then re-opened it briefly this year, then almost immediately closed it again. I needed to buy FB ads for a project I was working on, so I signed up with a brand new email address. Immediately after signing up, it was messaging people in my old network that I had joined facebook and suggesting they add me as a friend. Really creeped me out. I just wanted to join so I could buy ads and have zero contact with other people. So I immediately deleted it and decided I was going to live without facebook ads.
• nijave 8y ago
  Is everyone that's getting rid of their Facebook also getting rid of their cell phone? I don't really use Facebook much but don't have a compelling reason to delete it. It's good for contacting people whose phone numbers I don't have.
• restlessdesign 8y ago
  Yes. I seldom used it and in the wake of the CA scandal, deleted all my posts, photos, and then finally the account itself. I don’t miss it and am quite happy that I got around to it and that a one-time cost of 45 minutes of my time has likely paid itself back twice over by now.
• bsenftner 8y ago
  Yes. During the election I was viewing FB as a more negative influence on my day to day attitude. When initial news of their profit seeking behavior during the election hit, I quit.
• zapzupnz 8y ago
  I keep trying, but the fact is that all my friends and family rely on Facebook for communication (usually through Messenger), so either I use it and stay connected or I don't use it and I become completely disconnected. We can argue the virtues of becoming disconnected until the cows come home, but practically speaking, I still rely on my family and friends for a lot of things. Putting myself on radio silence is not an option. I've been spending the past couple days looking into what options I have available to continue using Facebook whilst never visiting the website or using its apps. Most positive options seem to involve using a bridge to another service.
  • subpixel 8y ago
    > Putting myself on radio silence is not an option. You're (deeply) conflating disconnecting from FB with disconnecting from communication. These are not remotely the same thing. My family and friends know I'm not on FB and so they call me, they text me, they even email me. In 3+ years the fact that I'm not in FB has presented zero difficulty for me or the people and groups I want to communicate with.
    • zapzupnz 8y ago
      > You're (deeply) conflating disconnecting from FB with disconnecting from communication. These are not remotely the same thing. Nobody I know uses email for actual communication, and no amount of me sending them emails is likely to change that. Further, I don't pay for therefore don't use text messages, and the majority of people I know don't use Apple devices so can't use a free service like iMessage to contact me. I'm also not planning to sign up for another service just to replace another, nor do I think I could reasonably convince anybody to follow me to another service aside from WhatsApp which wouldn't be much of an improvement, really. I'm glad you've managed to have zero difficulties. However, if it were really so simple for me, I would have already pulled the trigger long ago. Someone else's anecdote has no relevance to my situation just as my anecdote has no relevance to anybody else. So please don't tell me what I'm conflating. I know my own business best.
      • 8y ago
• ThalesX 8y ago
  No, and I won't delete my Facebook account in 2018 or 2019. I log in to Facebook Feed maybe once every 2 - 3 months, just to see how the space looks like, always disappointed in how irrelevant the information is to me. No friend posts, no insightful publishing, just randomly shared articles, ads, sponsored content and page suggestions. I also do Instagram sometimes, that feels a bit more towards what I want in that I can actually see what some friends are doing but seeing my wife and close friends scrolling on and on on their feeds and praising it really makes me wary of immersing myself too much in this gamified addiction center. I use Facebook Messenger to keep contact with my friends and WhatsApp to talk to my family; I have my track blockers on, I have my ads blocked and notifications disabled on my phone so Facebook is minimally invasive for me. Not sure what point I'm trying to make, I think it's a bit counterproductive deleting your account on the biggest network on the planet. What I think we should be pushing for is people disengaging with their devices and their notifications and being in charge of when they want to connect. I was once a daily Facebook user, I felt connected, I felt empowered, I felt knowledgeable and I never stopped to consider if it is truly so. The change for me happened when I decided to disable notifications on my phone. Ever since then, I've been a lot better at managing my daily attention and random apps don't really hold my attention any more than what I am willing to offer them. Again, I'm feeling like I'm rambling without a cohesive thought, so I'll end it with the personal insight that it's not necessary to drop a service as long as you get to control how it works for you. The data mining and shadow profiling are the cost you pay for a free service, but being on it constantly is a choice individuals can make for themselves.
  • zapzupnz 8y ago
    > […] it's not necessary to drop a service as long as you get to control how it works for you > The data mining and shadow profiling are the cost you pay for a free service That seems a bit contradictory to me. If you could control how something worked, you could also control what data is being mined and so on. Fact is, you can't; even when you tell Facebook not to, they still manage to find ways to do so. Also, once upon a time, data mining and shadow profiling were decidedly _not_ the cost we paid for free services. We got either generic advertising or targeted advertising based on the state of the page being visited, not a huge history based on every little thing we've done online. We do well to remember that the way things are is _not_ always the way things should be, or even have always been. Apathy to our own plight and a short collective memory span are dictatorships' greatest friends.
• paulcole 8y ago
  Nope, I finally made one!
• jijji 8y ago
  maybe ur just upset that dob made it and u didnt
• ublaze 8y ago
  No. I unfollowed everyone and everything on Facebook, and whenever I add someone new, I unfollow them immediately too. So my news feed is perpetually empty. This makes Facebook something that reminds me of people's birthdays, and let's me keep in touch via Messenger, which is all that I need.
  • Marsymars 8y ago
    I did this, and infuriatingly, Facebook still insists on emailing me about notifications from people I'm not following. There seems to be no way to avoid this if I want to receive email notification of event invites. (Which I do, since I don't have the apps installed and won't visit the website otherwise.)
• enneff 8y ago
  Yes.
• blue_eyes1978 8y ago
  Nope, I did better...I alienated, anonymized, and corrupted my data stream such that I am no longer a reliable data point. And I recommend all to do the same. Poisoned Lake Theory for the advertisers that prop them up while still able to use the assets.
• vasilipupkin 8y ago
  yes. finally got rid of that time sucker. I didn't do it for any political reason or to punish facebook, just because I felt like it was basically a waste of time. All my family and friends can easily get a hold of me without it.
• wreath 8y ago
  I didn’t delete my Facebook account and probably won’t. I deleted the app from my phone and then logged out of all browsers few months after that (i dont know my FB password as it’s stored in my pwd manager so it makes checking FB tad harder). I feel I have a lot more time for other stuff and more focus at work especially. The only reason why I wont delete my account is that I live abroad and this is the easiest way to stay in touch with family/close friends, especially my non-tech saavy mother. So Im only using Messenger. I find it more important to learn how to “free myself” from the phone addiction than just deleting a FB account and this is what Ive been working on recently.
• cbush06 8y ago
  Yes. Deleted.
• sandov 8y ago
  I did in 2017. I have experienced some downsides, mainly losing contact with some not-so-close friends. But the advantages + knowing that I followed my principles make it worth it. I still use whatsapp though, because unfortunately I keep in contact with my close friends through it.
• ealhad 8y ago
  No. I did it in 2016, never looked back :)
• shurcooL 8y ago
  Haven’t deleted, but it’s effectively inactive and unused. I’m logged out and don’t check it. Maybe once every few months for a minute.
• pps43 8y ago
  Yes. Planned to open a burner when really needed. So far there's been no need to.
• anonacct37 8y ago
  Yes. It stopped providing value. It used to provide a way to stay in touch with friends from college. Then it provided too much info about how my family and co-workers really feel about the world. Turns out ignorance is bliss. I am happier not knowing about their contrail conspiracy theories or their racist Obama cartoons.
• JAdamMoore 8y ago
  I was never stupid enough to use Facebook.
• AlexCoventry 8y ago
  Long ago, and many times. I do recreate one periodically, when I have a need for it.
• jsmeaton 8y ago
  No. I still use it to keep in contact with many friends and family. But I’ve stopped posting, checking in to places, etc.
• akinhwan 8y ago
  I didn't delete it, but I haven't logged in over 3 months. Longest stretch I can remember
• yesenadam 8y ago
  Uh no, that's the only way I can talk with 95% of my friends, who are all over the world, in many countries. p.s. I've never had a cell phone.
• ggm 8y ago
  Yes
• lscotte 8y ago
  No, I did it in 2011 and haven't looked back.
• rubyfan 8y ago
  I haven't deleted it yet but stopped using it mid-year. The junk political posts from both sides got on my nerves. Nothing on there every caught my interest. I have no plans to go back to using it. I do have quite a bit of family on it so will have to put up a "no longer active, here's how to contact me" post or something like that.
• plahteenlahti 8y ago
  Deleted my account permanently two months ago. In the beginning it was interesting too see how it had become a habit to write the url almost without thinking, and for three weeks I found myself opening a new tab and writing the Facebook.com address every time my mind started wandering. Also deleted my Instagram account at the same time and currently in the process of deleting WhatsApp as well, as soon as some projects depending on it as the communication platform conclude. Can’t say I missed it. The things I’ve lost in terms of communication power are far outweighed by the positive effect it has had on my wellbeing and time management. Other than that the effect has been relatively small on my life. At the time of deletion I had around 700 “friends”, most of which I hadn’t seen in years and many of which I had had no connection after becoming friends on Facebook. Now two months after is feels weird to have used this service daily, when in reality it worked mostly as an address book than a communication platform. Another thing I noticed was how invested I had become in other people’s lives by mostly just consuming their status updates, stories and pictures. This combined with lack of updates from my side had really distorted my relationship with people, and had me feel more connected to people than I really was. It has wonderful to notice how much more interesting and easier it has become to converse with people when you don’t know what they’ve been up to recently
  • blckchrry 8y ago
    I understand the desire to delete FB and IG (I did the same in 2018) but why get rid of WhatsApp? Isn't it just a communication tool rather than a social-media site?
  • hh3k0 8y ago
    > Deleted my account permanently two months ago. In the beginning it was interesting too see how it had become a habit to write the url almost without thinking, and for three weeks I found myself opening a new tab and writing the Facebook.com address every time my mind started wandering. I've deleted my account in 2017 when I realized that I only care about ~10 of my ~1,000 friends. The behavior you described also happened to me -- a lot. It was quite scary to realize how often I absentmindedly type in Facebook's url every day. The hardest part about deleting my account was that I had a few deceased people in my friend list. That held me back for a good while (years actually) – because it was a terrifying thought that, no matter if I change my mind and come back, they could never accept a new friend request by me and I would never be able browse their profile again.
• froderick 8y ago
  No, can’t delete what I don’t have. My dad gave me some great advice pre-social media, and it still applies: “If you want to get really depressed, spend your time worrying about what everybody else is doing.” I realize Facebook offers more utility than just peering over fences, but that is what it would be to me.
• Carpetsmoker 8y ago
  No. I actually created a Facebook account in 2018. The problem is that without Facebook you will miss out. Sure, close friends and family will invite you to their social events, but more distant acquaintances will not; you know, the bloke you met at the pub last week and had a 20 minute chat with, or that cute girl you talked to but then she suddenly she was dragged off to a birthday party by her friends. By missing out on the social opportunities you lose the chance to upgrade these people from acquaintances to friends (or even lovers), as well as meet new people. Some back story: I moved to a different country two years ago with my ex-girlfriend (for her job), and we both didn't really know anyone there. I work remote, so I don't meet a lot of people from work, either. We broke up after a year and much to my dismay I discovered I had not really made any new friends in that year, and that I was quite ... alone. So I set out to change that. Facebook – as much as I dislike the company – was helpful. I moved to yet another country two month ago, and again Facebook has been helpful. I dislike Facebook for all the standard reasons. I had an account but I deleted it about 5 or 6 years ago, but I decided that having a good social life was (and remains) vastly important to the quality of my life, and that Facebook is a tool to help achieve that goal. (Facebook didn't really "delete" my old account, as after I rejoined it remembered many of my previous friends; some of whom I had no contact with outside of Facebook, like many Egyptians I was in contact with during the 2011 rebellion whom I had met through a friend and only knew through Facebook; my "suggested friends" list was full of Arabic names). On a more deeper level, I am a little bit exasperated of always being the "different" and "difficult" person (which extends to things beyond Facebook). Standing up for your principles and "voting with your wallet" is good and all, but ... I'm not so sure it's all that effective. In this case, a more effective strategy is probably to first create a really good Facebook alternative (I'm not so sure there is one now), make sure decent privacy laws are enacted, etc.
  • saagarjha 8y ago
    > Facebook didn't really "delete" my old account, as after I rejoined it remembered many of my previous friends Do you happen to live in Europe, by chance?
    • hh3k0 8y ago
• 1rae 8y ago
  Wait till you realise every website has facebook 2FA and it's easier to just login with it.
  • acct1771 8y ago
    Wait until you realize it's easier to just soil yourself, rather than use a toilet.
• jaboutboul 8y ago
  Deleted mine in 2012. Saw this coming a long time ago...
• cjhanks 8y ago
  I am probably one of the few who has gone the other way. I had a Facebook when it was college e-mail only. I got rid of it... and then I added it back this year. It turns out that Facebook is fundamentally required if you want to schedule events which contain a lot of individuals. At first I assumed I would only use it for messaging/coordination. But then I decided I liked having the ability to post jokes. I have also found it easy to filter out all of the nonsensical political argumentation. But that's probably because I have personally learned to just not argue.
• mscasts 8y ago
  No I deleted mine in 2017
• sbilstein 8y ago
  I thought it would be hard but once I jumped on deleting my account I feel much better. Friends get in touch with me over text or email. Many of my friends prefer using email at this point anyhow, possibly since most of my male friends are programmers or luddites or both. My girlfriend still gets Facebook invites for things but increasingly we get email invites for parties and similar. I get my news more actively through browsing sources now; I navigate to Pitchfork or a subreddit for music stuff. It's easier than it sounds; people will find a way to get in touch and new people you meet will just be fine with texting.
• RpFLCL 8y ago
  No, I did it in 2012 and never looked back. The writing has been on the walls for the better part of a decade
• yeuxverte 8y ago
  Nope. Definitely use it a bit less because I've realized that there aren't that really any benefits of using it for anything other than messaging/events. Despite the shitstorm against them from NYT/HN I really couldn't care less about what they do with the data I willingly share on their platform
  • acct1771 8y ago
    What about the data you unknowingly share from other browser tabs, your cache, your other apps on your phone if you're a mobile user, etc?
• sergiotapia 8y ago
  Deleted it in 2017, still deleted now. I've grown tired of having a "footprint" online. I miss the old days of anonymous handles. I no longer use the same username for different services, or emails either. I would delete my hn account if I could - @dang.
• droithomme 8y ago
  I still don't use it.
• ngngngng 8y ago
  I deactivated it for a few months. I've reactivated it since. I live in a small town of about 300 homes, all the city information is posted in the city facebook page. It doesn't suck time from my day anymore since I broke the addiction (now reddit is my only addiction left) and I have the firefox container extensions and ublock origin so i'm satisfied it's not tracking me.
  • seppin 8y ago
    What's the problem with just using it for one or two features, deleting everything else you've posted and using anti-tracking software in your browser?
• nuguy 8y ago
  I never made one in the first place. I still don’t understand why it wasn’t immediately obvious to everyone else that Facebook was toxic and a bad idea. I truly don’t understand how other people did or recognize that. It was blindingly obvious to me.
• ilrwbwrkhv 8y ago
  yup.. didnt use it for months now.. and felt right to do it this year.
• avodonosov 8y ago
  No, I deleted it years before.
• newer_guy 8y ago
  I never made one in the first place. I still don’t understand why it wasn’t immediately obvious to everyone else that Facebook was toxic and a bad idea. I truly don’t understand how other people did or recognize that. It was blindingly obvious to me.
• jdmoreira 8y ago
  I deleted my fb account in 2015. I was a heavy user until the day I quit. One of my best decisions, never looked back!
• pmav 8y ago
  I didn't deleted it yet, but I still didn't accept the GDPR terms.
• andrepd 8y ago
  Yes. I did it for the privacy issues, and for being personally opposed to advertising in all forms. But I also did it because social networks are harmful even beside that. They are attention suckers, they distract, and they also depress and mislead you. All in all, I feel measurably worse for having them in my life. I feel it was doing me harm, to my mental health, my free time, my overall well-being. The (small) benefits, which I can mostly replace with messaging via other services, do not outweigh this harm. That's why all the posts about "an open-source/distributed/decentralised facebook substitute" don't really appeal to me either.
• rodriguezartavi 8y ago
  No, I deleted it in 2017 and I don't regret it. In 2018 I got rid of whats app and the smartphone. This one involved a sacrifice, being farther away from my friends. But I got so much in exchange. Time, presence, big reduction in anxiety, contact with people, compassion. Got my life back. I get to call and visit my friends and really enjoy talking to them.
• knodi123 8y ago
  Yep. I used https://deletefacebook.com/ https://deletefacebook.com/ which made it straightforward and easy.
• tobyhinloopen 8y ago
  Yes
• IIAOPSW 8y ago
  I got banned from facebook this year. So some background. I used facebook as a normal user from 2010 to 2012. I thought it was stupid on day 1 but was peer pressured into it (thanks high school) and by 2012 I still thought it was stupid and useless so I quit. At various intervals between 2012 and now I've had shitposting accounts. Fake names and fake pictures but most people in the friends list knew who was behind the mask (and frustratingly would address me instead of the mask). At some point I was posing as an over the top Chinese nationalist, reposting everything from China daily and xinhua. Using FB in this quasi anonymous way is so liberating. You're not playing the same status game as all those other suckers. You're free to touch any political third rail. In fact you're touching the third rail just to touch it. You don't even care what you're saying. You can completely make a mockery of the banality which consumes social media. I used to begin posts with "speaking as a mother" despite being very obviously male. It is like you're the only one who sees the emperor has no clothes, and you're sitting there jiggling his willy and everyone else is still insisting he's wearing pants. Anyway my last account was one "Fiona Lockhardt". Her profile pic was a purple pen which had a smiley face and boobs added in ms paint. For people who know me, Fiona really is the name of my pen. It is a pen that I built but it is also a lockpick. I named it after a girl in the office who was caught stealing things. I would use this account to interject into conversations with ostensibly on topic information but secretly I was making lock puns. I would post sterotypically girly vacation photos but with the pen in various poses such as sitting on an airplane or drinking starbucks. Importantly, none of the pictures posted were me. 100% of uploaded photos were the pen with a face added in ms paint. So one day facebook decides that something about my login is suspicious. They ask me to upload a picture to confirm my identity. They won't let me upload a picture of the pen because they failed to detect a face in the picture. So I upload a photo of Mark Zuckerberg. It goes to manual review and then my account gets locked. Ironic, Fiona could unlock things for others, but couldn't unlock her own account. Do I care? No not really. Facebook was just a stupid site on the internet from day 1. It never deserved to be taken seriously.
  • busterarm 8y ago
    Man, I respect the hell outta your troll. Thanks for making me smile.
  • 8y ago
• the_clarence 8y ago
  No. Still super useful to keep in touch with my friends. Actually I was in Milan not so long ago and have a friend living there, but he deleted his facebook account so I didn't manage to reach out to him. It was a bit sad.
• yial 8y ago
  I deleted mine in October, 2015. I haven’t looked back... though I think strictly speaking I deactivated it then, and I finally went through with full deletion in 2017. Though I did recently have to create a fake one for work to manage our Facebook page.
• myself248 8y ago
  Never had one in the first place. Facebook's entire existence deeply offended me from when I first heard about it, back in the .edu-only days. I got along fine before social media existed. I get along fine without it now.
  • zzo38computer 8y ago
    Same to me. I never had a Facebook account and do not use Facebook. However, it did not offend me, but I still think I do not need it. So, no, I did not (and cannot) delete my Facebook account in 2018, because there isn't any to delete.
• compscistd 8y ago
  No, but I deleted the app off my phone. This is much more manageable as I only check Facebook for event invites through a web browser (either on my phone or desktop). Additionally, I no longer use SSO through Facebook
• jostmey 8y ago
  No, I just didn’t log into Facebook, like ever
• ryebreadistasty 8y ago
  I haven't had it for years already, deleted it a few years ago, and to be truthful I think it's been long enough they legit don't have much data on me anymore.
• village-idiot 8y ago
  No, but I let mine go fallow and installed a lot of anti-tracking software, including a pi-hole, all to prevent them and others from following me.
• gordaco 8y ago
  I haven't used facebook since... about 2013 Q1. I stopped using it more or less organically, just by looking for social life in other places (and by having less social life, actually). I thought that there wasn't much harm in having it open, but a few days ago I finally got fed up and deleted the account. I didn't bother downloading my data or anything. Unfortunately I don't see myself getting rid of Whatsapp any time soon. For the vast majority of people around me, it's the only means of communication they will use (aside from face to face, of course). I'm sad that people would not use email for personal communication any more, but I guess that my preferences have become obsolete.
• kamonrye 8y ago
  Yes. I sort of miss having connections to groups that I was a part of, but it's been well worth it. Google and their products are next (with the exception of Chromecast via a burner gmail).
• sudofail 8y ago
  Yep
• ashelmire 8y ago
  Deleted in 2017! Life’s been great since. I’ve taken a bunch of classes, read a bunch of books, and I’m no longer plagued by the political and social ideas of the uneducated on a regular basis.
  • fooker 8y ago
    > I’m no longer plagued by the political and social ideas of the uneducated on a regular basis. My condolences. "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
    • labster 8y ago
      Those thoughts stopped being entertaining a long time ago.
    • 50656E6973 8y ago
      "Most of what passes for legitimate entertainment is inferior or foolish and only caters to or exploits people's weaknesses. Avoid being one of the mob who indulges in such pastimes. Your life is too short and you have important things to do. Be discriminating about what images and ideas you permit into your mind. If you yourself don't choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will, and their motives may not be the highest. It is the easiest thing in the world to slide imperceptibly into vulgarity. But there's no need for that to happen if you determine not to waste your time and attention on mindless pap." -Epictetus, The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness
• sm4rk0 8y ago
  Yes. Too much BS from FB piled up... So I've started the process on Nov. 25th and in two days it will be a point of no return (yay!). FYI: After deletion, there's one-month period when you can change your mind and undelete the account. I was a very active user since 2007. and I've made the decision literally overnight and made it into action one week later, after announcing it to friends and downloading my data. I've also sent a canned message to almost all people I have communicated with. It said something like: I'm deleting FB account, here's my email, phone nr and name, as FB will replace my name in that conversation with "Facebook user" when I'm gone. I've also deleted my Yahoo account 10+ yrs ago, for inserting ads in email signatures and became obsoleted by Google, Linkedin after they sold my data and trust to MS and Twitter when they announced censoring posts. Google and Amazon accounts could be next. P.S. I've just signed up here to post this comment (:
  • eigenloss 8y ago
    Just in case you didn't know, deleting posts or your account here is impossible.
• Pfhreak 8y ago
  I deleted my Facebook account in 2013. I've been screaming into the void about it ever since.
• Ricndidn 8y ago
  Yup. Who needs that noise?
• a9a 8y ago
  I deleted it Jan 1 2018 and am trying to decide whether to reactivate Jan 1 2019. No part of me misses News Feed or mindless scrolling, but Events and Groups have become an essential part of discovering and organizing social events for my peers (I’m late 20s, live in Europe, am in grad school). I don’t think I will reactivate, but I find it interesting that those have become the “stickiest” part of Facebook: I have so many other channels for close interaction (email, text) and interaction with strangers (Twitter, Medium) but that mid-range acquaintance circle is most easily accessible (only accessible?) on Facebook
• voyager2 8y ago
  You can't delete something you never had.
• seppin 8y ago
  Yes, and stepped up usage of Whatsapp and IG. So what was the point of that?
• revskill 8y ago
  Currently, i only use Facebook to watch streaming gaming, nothing more.
• quakeguy 8y ago
  No, did it already in 2011. Never missed it since.
• joegahona 8y ago
  Yes, and Instagram.
• daveid 8y ago
  Yes, I deleted mine! Deleted my Twitter account too
• c22 8y ago
  No, but I stopped signing into it back in 2015. I figured deleting it would just give them another datapoint on me.
• Applejinx 8y ago
  I just unfollow nearly everybody, and don't post.
• jxramos 8y ago
  I kept my profile but painstakingly deleted everything I ever contributed in my profile. I think I did it in response to something posted in HN about some data breach with Facebook or something. I wasn’t affected it turns out but I did it just as a precautionary thing. I kept the profile around just in case I wanted Facebook credentials for something down the road. I was able to attend a webcast once using my account that I wound not have been able to otherwise.
• robotixonic 8y ago
  Yes. Downloaded everything and deleted/deactivated the account. Also deleted my business page. My happiness level increased immediately.
• dvtrn 8y ago
  Yes. Quite a few friendships faded away with it. Quite a few others strengthened. I'm good with that.
• deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
• Mugwort 8y ago
  Yes! My primary reason for my deleting FB was that it was a waste of time. The privacy issues were there from the beginning. I never doubted our data wasn't used in all kinds of unsavory ways but this is the cost of having a "free" social network. What else did anyone expect? What really surprised me was how addicting FB is and how it changed the way almost everyone interacts with each other. Facebook's biggest crime is deliberately addicting its users, especially young people. If for nothing else, I hope MZ gets a subpoena for that.
• minism 8y ago
  Deleted in 2008. I was quite addicted to it which was my main motivation for deleting it, though I'm glad to not be on the platform for different reasons now.
• newscracker 8y ago
  No, I didn’t delete my account. But I have reduced my exposure quite a bit over time (I want using it much in the first place) and I find it more peaceful to stay away. There’s too much negativity, too many black and white arguments, too much chest thumping, too much narcissism, too less empathy...almost every negative human quality one can imagine is magnified a thousand times on these platforms (to the extent of my observations). Yet, as someone who deeply cares about privacy (and strongly despises Facebook) but is also involved in some causes where connecting with other people (many strangers) helps, I use Facebook only for those purposes. I don’t post anything personal, though Facebook would have my number because of all the other people uploading their address books to it. I use Facebook as a focused tool, and not to kill time by scrolling and clicking/tapping and watching videos that are ultimately wasteful in every way. Luckily, I don’t have a big social circle that’s only on Facebook, and if there are events that are only on Facebook, I don’t mind missing those. People who need to connect can always email me or call me. Network effects aside, the user experience is very important. Without that, there’s no hope of making people try something else and having them stick with it. After all, many people have moved from Orkut to Friendster to MySpace to Facebook to Instagram to Snapchat and then back and what not. Anything that wants to replace Facebook should invent a new paradigm for communication and connection and/or should come as a complete replacement (“batteries included”).
• jompe 8y ago
  I've tried since I didn't want to accept their escape hatch when GDPR came and thus couldn't use their services anyway. Unfortunately they apparently drag out the deletion process so I haven't successfully deleted it as of yet. It's actually worked out quite OK, I'm relying on a few friends updating me on what happens in some group chats right now but a lot of friends has already moved over to alternative chat platforms like Telegram, Signal, etc. I haven't missed other parts of facebook like groups and events at all which is nice and I've never used IG or WhatsApp.
  • Casseres 8y ago
    For a while it blocked me from the News Feed because I didn't accept their new GDPR policy, but could still send Messages to other friends. After a while I discovered I could use the News Feed and never saw the GDPR page again. I hope they aren't claiming that I accepted it. I guess it's their word against mine, no way to prove that I didn't click the button if they just flip a bit in their database. I just rarely use it for Messages now, no News Feed.
• LargeWu 8y ago
  No. I have a few online businesses and Facebook is critical to driving traffic. It's not a stretch to say I would not have a viable business without the ability to advertise on Facebook proper. Even Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest...none of these have ever driven a single sale, but I've gotten plenty off Facebook.
  • bigiain 8y ago
    I'm curious - would you be happy mentioning what type/area of business that is? I've heard _way_ more stories of five and six figure Facebook ad spends resulting in zero attributable transactions than success stories. The word on the street I'm hearing is that Instagram is where the conversions are coming from in B2C...
    • LargeWu 8y ago
      T-shirts. I have a few different niches - one for regional/state pride, one for the band Phish. Honestly I would have expected Instagram to deliver since it's such a visual medium, but it hasn't so far. It could definitely be my creative; it's possible Instagram requires a higher quality than I'm posting. But I would be surprised if there was an appreciable difference between that and FB
      • bigiain 8y ago
        Thanks. Interesting to know...
• Waterluvian 8y ago
  I deleted it about 5 years ago. Here's what I always say in posts like this: My quantity of "friends" went way down, but I was left with a handful of really good friends and meaningful relationships.
• PaulHoule 8y ago
  Yes.
• un_montagnard 8y ago
  I didn't. But I used to check it every day and I stopped. I'm going there every second week or so, just to be sure I'm not missing on something somewhat important.
• ishan_chhabra 8y ago
  No. Instead, I use Facebook News Feed Eradicator (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/news-feed-eradicator-for/fjcldmjmjhkklehbacihaiopjklihlgg?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/news-feed-eradicat...) and use it only on the desktop (no mobile app). I get the benefits of Facebook (real identity with almost everyone on the platform, events, groups, etc.) without loosing hours reading crap on the news feed.
• mrmondo 8y ago
  In 2012: Slowly changed all information in the account to misinformation, moved the account to 'Ireland', Wrote a crappy script to uploaded blank replacement photos / images where possible, remove all friends and then delete all post attachments then the posts, then waited several weeks and "deleted" the account.
• oblib 8y ago
  No, but early in 2016 I tightened up my account settings, deleted all those "friend requests" from people I didn't know or interact with, made all my posts viewable by only "friends", and I've made very few "Public" posts since. I also very seldom post any photos of me or anyone I know there. I also delete cookies and other saved data in the browser I use to access FB regularly. I have less than 200 FB friends, and most I know very well or follow them because they post very interesting stuff. I don't, and never have, used FB on my phone. This has made using FB enjoyable for me because I know what data they have. It's only what I let them have, and it's not really all that much.
• wenc 8y ago
  No. As an introvert with a rich inner life, it’s one of the only ways for me to share that life with friends. People who have known me for years find they don’t really know me unless they’ve read my writing or seen my experiences through pictures. (I almost never share third party links; all my Facebook content is self-created and is a form of self expression — I suspect I’m in the minority of Facebook users) There are egg people and onion people. Egg people are knowable once you break the shell, but with onion people there are many layers to peel. I’m one of those people who, despite being outgoing, are hard to know in real life because I communicate much more easily through writing. Friends have told me it’s through my posts that they learn there’s a whole other side of me. Yes I could start a blog or send emails, but everyone knows it’s not the same. To me there’s inhererent utility in a platform like Facebook for introverts. If there was another platform that’s as widely accepted I would switch but due to the objective function to monetize, any company going down this path will be faced with the same ethical challenges.
  • gibatronic 8y ago
    Indeed, I also find value in Facebook. The data scandal was serious and to be honest, needed. It brought data and privacy awareness, countries and even entire continents are now trying to convey regulations on the subject. Facebook was already superfluous, if you can afford to delete it.
• MehdiHK 8y ago
  Deactivated it. Still using the Messenger though.
• thijsvandien 8y ago
  No, only ever had one for about half a year back in 2011 or so. Never got on WhatsApp because I already disliked it even before it was bought. Instagram isn’t my cup of tea either.
• nradov 8y ago
  No. For all it's flaws and bad behavior, Facebook remains the best way of sharing photos with my friends and family. And it allows me to discover interesting events that I wouldn't have otherwise known about.
• fgandiya 8y ago
  Yes because I found it absolutely useless since I didn't interact with people much besides a friend who I forgot to tell I was leaving Facebook. Thankfully she emailed me so we could stay in touch. I wasn't using FB a whole lot since it made me feel bad but what pushed me to the edge was their utter contempt for their users. I doubt it means much given how big of an influence it has in the world however. And I'm not sure I'll get all those productivity benefits since I'll waste time on something else.
• donohoe 8y ago
  Yes. Downloaded my archive. Manually deleted my actions (likes, comments) via Chrome extension, then went through deletion process. In May, when I’m in Ireland I’ll be filing a request for my data to see what remains.
• rasengan0 8y ago
  Of course. Why not? Who benefits? The day we have to rely on centralized social media outside user control for meaningful engagement with our social spheres is a sad day indeed. Folks just call or email if they need to reach me. Better yet a hand written card. i think the key is to take social media with a grain of salt, another superficial publishing channel subject to null privacy. Folks have invested too much trust with their data and it has been naturally exploited for corporate profit. Y'all move fast with stable infra, now. y'ere. Ugh. I gotta write my friends back with my fountain pen.
• b1r6 8y ago
  No but I've been using it much less in recent years. Extract the positive utility, while ignoring all the mental junk.
• quickthrower2 8y ago
  People have commented that they have missed out on friends 50th parties and even their death due to not being on Facebook. And therefore not being on Facebook is a big decision with consequences for your life. However I think if you are not on FB, and you don't want to miss out, you need to do some old fashion stuff, like call your friends on the phone if they are long distance, or meet with them in person if they are local. And you'll have to do more of that to not miss out on stuff. You might then have to be more fussy about who you class as friends. Even given all that I think it is worth giving up FB.
  • twodave 8y ago
    It goes both ways, too. If you have people in your life who are more than surface relationships then they and you will both make the effort to maintain it—Facebook isn’t going to enhance that to any real degree. The moment it becomes more than just a tool is the moment I’m OUT.
• luord 8y ago
  No. I know that there are many, many compelling reasons to, but doing that would effectively cut out my lines of communication with my immediate family (we use WhatsApp and Facebook almost exclusively), who lives in another city, and I'm not doing that any time soon.
• spondyl 8y ago
  No, but I don't use it aside from Messenger either. I don't have any of the apps installed and none of my browsers are specifically logged into facebook.com (just messenger.com which is likely just the exact same cookie/tracking wise). Mind you, it's basically the illusion of freedom because I use Instagram every so often which is another Facebook owns product so I'm still in the ecosystem. I did delete my Facebook account around mid-2017 but the utility of it pulled me back in once I started my job/moved to the city earlier this year. Whoever referred to it as a "human pokedex" wasn't wrong. As long as you feed it a little, it'll give you quite a bit in return. For example, you could meet a total stranger at a party and only learn their first name. Using that, mixed with your own geolocation and social network, is usually enough to find out who they were. While it is publically available information (in a sense because it's still inside a walled garden), I don't think most people realise how little work is needed to track down who someone is. That in itself isn't particularly useful of course. Anyway, I'm just rambling at this point haha
• tinyhouse 8y ago
  I'm surprised people use messenger for communication. 99.9% of my friends and family are on WhatsApp and that's where we communicate. As many here I also didn't delete the account but only log in once or twice a month and usually don't spend more than 5 minutes on the site and never write or like anything. I don't get any notifications from FB so it's useful to see if someone sent me a msg. (which happens rarely). I have another "fake" account that I use more often since I have a few groups that I follow there.
• ksec 8y ago
  Facebook is one of those things I learn about what long tail really meant. There are still regions and countries just getting on or Facebook being a hot new item. People are using it for all sort of things. In the west, the social circle might have moved to IG for youngsters years ago, for many Facebook is still the king. Facebook is also informational ( Problem of Fake News ). Those hipster who like Sanpchat? Where were they now? The so call next gen didn't like WhatsApp and Facebook? What do they use when they are finally out of college? The thing I love about working is that it these people will have to adopt to OUR way of working ( Gosh that sounds old, as if like I was forced to use Lotus Notes for email ) but seriously Snapchat and IG just cant be used much for work because information density is too low. It might be good for entertainment. Twitter and Facebook is still king. So I didn't delete my Facebook. It is still useful without replacement. I am waiting to see if deleting Facebook is still a Silicon Valley / nerds movement or actual real world movement.
• debaserab2 8y ago
  Yes. And since then I've been stuck in a loop of reactivating/deactivating because I do use facebook messenger and logging in from a new device seems to magically turn my account back on. I finally just gave up a month ago and just left it on. However, I did completely break the habit of mindlessly opening facebook when I'm bored. I'm really glad I quashed that habit - once it's gone facebook feels like a pretty lifeless experience when you open it.
• caseysoftware 8y ago
  No, but I logged out in 2016 and log in every couple months so to keep it "active" And luckily, I've never installed their apps on any device.
• brainless 8y ago
  I had deactivated my account early 2018, but restarted for my own startup's FB page (which isn't getting much love on FB). Currently I do not actively use FB, and ONLY use with incognito browser (no mobile apps), so no long term sessions.
• twodave 8y ago
  I quit using Facebook in early 2014. I asked them to delete my account. Later, in 2017, I logged into Spotify for the first time ever, using the same email I had registered with Facebook in the past. Magically my account was restored and linked to Spotify. After that I was sort of at a loss, but I did delete my account again this year after seeing a link on a thread here that claimed it would “really” allow me to delete my account. I still don’t trust it.
  • LifeQuestioner 8y ago
    i had this issue. I just asked spotify to remove the link to my bf and for me to use another email. Now fb is no longer connected to my spotify
• kizer 8y ago
  I deleted it in 2016.
• earenndil 8y ago
  Nope, I never had an account.
• Solar19 8y ago
  No, I just uninstalled the FB and Messenger apps from my phone when I read that the app was getting phone call data. And because they've been censoring non-leftist voices. I only use FB on browsers on desktop until I finally migrate to something better. I've started cross-posting on Gab.
• sweetp 8y ago
  I deleted mine in late 2017 :)
• nstart 8y ago
  No. But I've 1. got it logged out on devices. 2. Wrote a script and used it to unfollow all the people and pages I follow. 3. Clicked not interested for a few days after on any ads or things that FB tried to still force into my news feed 1 month later I found I have no urge to visit the network anymore. I pop over there once a week or so when I want to check the FB page of a restaurant or to see events happening around me but I'm 100% in control of how I use the network. I'd love to delete it for privacy reasons, but there's a lot of value to be had in the network which I can't truly be rid of. Some other notes: FB's behaviour becomes pathologically "interesting" when it senses it's losing your engagement. You get to see just how many paths it tries to take to draw you back in. Right now it's down to what I believe is the last resort. My notifications are filled up whenever I choose to login to FB. And they are filled with "person X posted something". I never click them but I imagine that to someone still trying to wean themselves off FB, it'd be an effective way of trying to pull them back in.
  • systematical 8y ago
    When i removed it from my phone they started sending push notifications through the browser. It was kinda pathetic.
• u801e 8y ago
  I thought about it, but I came across some interesting groups that shared the same interests I do and I now primarily log into facebook to check what has been posted in those groups, responding to comments on my comments and commenting on other discussions. Before I came across those groups, I would occasionally log in and see what on the newsfeed. Now I don't really remember the last time I checked my news feed.
• danso 8y ago
  Nope, still the best way to keep in contact with casual friends, e.g. for school reunions
• stephenamills 8y ago
  lol, no, defintely did not delete it.
• chauhankiran 8y ago
  Yes. 1. It was taking too much time than supposed to take. 2. There are lots of information on a page which actually I don't want to see or read. Yeah, sometimes I fill like I'm missing something when my friends taking each other like, "Oh, you did this and that. I saw your photos on fb". But, hey it is okay to not present everyplace, right!
• systematical 8y ago
  Only removed from phone. Perhaps pointless because I still have Instagram and whatsapp installed.
• im1983 8y ago
  No. But I deleted their native app. Switching to browser mode reduced the time I spend.
• maxhedrome 8y ago
  Lol I’ve been advocating for people to delete that shit since 2009
• TACIXAT 8y ago
  I deleted my account last year. I made a new account this year (fake name, no photo) to try out some adspend. The adspend was ineffective and I should probably delete that one too.
• bane 8y ago
  No, but I've definitely been giving it a serious rest.
• solatic 8y ago
  No. And it's a completely laughable idea. 1) Friends in California who keep the social group messaging on Messenger despite pleading with them to migrate so that I can at least uninstall Messenger from my phone. If you have lived in a variety of places, made friends in those places, and it's important to you to keep in touch with them, then they're on Facebook. The End. 2) Facebook properties are huge locally (Tel Aviv). Need to find housing? Facebook groups. Looking for local events? Facebook events. WhatsApp is endemic here: if you get somebody's number, the default is to contact them on WhatsApp. Want to make an appointment? Nobody needs some kind of business-focused WhatsApp - the guy just gets a cheap phone, sets up normal WhatsApp on the number, and publishes that number. Every social group imaginable is on WhatsApp - roommates, work, family, various social groups, coordinating weekly exercise groups, absolutely everything. I visualize people who quit Facebook as the kind of person who always lived in one place, probably rural, is friendly with a handful of people from work, maybe a couple of people from school/college, and family. Sum total maybe fifty people who they've ever been close to in their life. If they're quitting Facebook, it's because Facebook didn't provide them much added value in the first place. And they either don't live in a place where WhatsApp is huge, or their social group is small enough and close enough that it's not a big deal for them to drop off the grid.
  • JoshMnem 8y ago
    Quitting isn't a laughable idea. I live in California (SF Bay) and got all of Facebook's companies out of my life in 2017. I had over 2,000 connections there. Since leaving, my offline social life improved and I'm more productive, because I don't scroll through newsfeeds, waste time chatting online about things that are not related to work, or think about posting anything on Facebook at all.
    • solatic 8y ago
      I'm in the triple digits for connections. Most of those connections are people I met such a long time ago that I couldn't remember their names if you showed me their pictures, and couldn't remember their faces if you told me their names. I'm not on Facebook for them, I'm on Facebook for a) the few people I do care about split between a variety of time zones who won't migrate off the platform and b) features like groups which are irrespective of the number of connections I have. Besides WhatsApp which is a default here. I also don't spend time at work on Facebook.
• MrStonedOne 8y ago
  No, instead I deleted every post, picture, video and "details about me" and hid every event/milestone/activity and left one post up linking to an article about facebook's privacy breaches over the years.
• Tomte 8y ago
  After many comments I made here how leaving Facebook is unviable because of my hobby, I did. I also deleted my Google account when getting an iPhone, and deleted my Twitter account (that was the thing I felt most — in a very positive way, I'm much less angry all the time).
• smilesnd 8y ago
  Deleted mine in 2010. 2 months was all I could handle was horrible experience then. It is a cheap way to keep up superficial relationship with people. If you had to put any energy/time keeping up a relationship with these people you would probably stop talking to them all together.
• mimimi333 8y ago
  Yes. I deleted my facebook account because I realized that I have not used facebook and posted any comments on it. These days, there are more useful SNSs a lot, so I think everyone do not have to use facebook.
• madmax108 8y ago
  I simply "logged out" of Facebook in 2015 and haven't logged back on since. Why not delete? Because I still have people who message on Messenger every once in a while and the effort of asking them to switch to a different service is simply not worth the effort (for me). Thankfully, Facebook has https://messenger.com https://messenger.com where I can log in every 1-2 months to reply to messages I've gotten there (Which are mostly either long lost friends trying to get back in touch or the dreaded "Hey how are you? PS I need a favor" type messages) Sure, I probably miss out on knowing whats going on in everyone's life, but I think with age (hit my mid 20s), I've leaned more towards cultivating a fixed set of "good, stable, bankable" friends instead of 1500 contacts (which was my FB when I quit), and the quality of life improvement has been massive for me. As they say, FB makes you compare your backreel with everyone's highlights and that has a massive psychological impact. I've gained back hours of time which I used to spend scrolling endlessly on the "infinite" timeline and managed to use large parts of it to do things that truly enrich me. Fact is that FB has reached a point of "uncool" in the younger generation (I know people 6-7 years younger to me who wouldn't be caught dead on FB simply because it's not cool) and more and more people are moving off of FB, or using it more as a secondary network (again, only applicable for my network), so in many ways, I feel that leaving FB today is much easier than a couple years ago (leaving the FB network of Whatsapp/Instagram as well is a different question).
• dvcrn 8y ago
  No, see no need to delete it. I don't post anything anymore, but use messenger a lot to keep in contact with a very broad friendcircle, like people I travelled with. Events are also very important to me. My calendar is synced with Facebook so if I click somewhere on "interested" or "going", it syncs into my schedule. Lastly, the selling community is big and I sell more on Facebook than on Craigslist.
• IloveHN84 8y ago
  No, in 2017
• macawfish 8y ago
  I deleted it in 2015 and just don't miss it ever, at all.
• d6e 8y ago
  Yes.
• vonseel 8y ago
  Not permanently, but yes, I stay deactivated nearly 100% of the time. Facebook's algorithm doesn't seem to work for me, as the feed is cluttered with mostly old college acquaintances and (maybe worse) older relatives sharing crazy articles and posting things that look like they came straight out of r/oldpeoplefacebook. In many ways, I preferred Facebook and other social medias when my family members were not following me on the platforms. I am an adult and nearly 30 years old, but it feels a bit like your parents watching you at your first school dance. That is, it's hard to be yourself when you're worried what people think. This includes peers, but maybe it's easier to brush off the opinions of non-relatives than it is relatives.
• gfodor 8y ago
  Stopped using Facebook in July in 2016 because the election had turned it into a terrible place. Never found a reason to go back, so just deactivated my account earlier this year. I can understand why some people can't do it, but for me it was a minor upside vs major downside situation. I found that my overall level of happiness increased after I stopped using it (and Twitter.) I still log onto Twitter occasionally but my rules are: - Always log in with a specific goal in mind, like DMing someone or making a tweet - When not performing that goal, log out - Prefer direct navigation/bookmarking of interesting people and reading their feeds vs looking at logged in timeline It works a lot better but if you want to tweet something you still need to wade into it.
• XorNot 8y ago
  No and not planning too. It's how I keep in touch with my far flung family.
• tsuyoshi 8y ago
  I never had a Facebook account.
• theDoug 8y ago
  Yes
• marwarii 8y ago
  Yes, I did. Actually I stopped using since 2016 but deleted in 2018 after massive data scandal. I'm nowhere missing it, and that helped me in many ways in saving my own time and doing real stuff. Stopped using even Instagram, I installed the app again today itself after almost 1 year, and just added one picture. Then I might forget to use it and have to uninstall the app till next time. I use WhatsApp but only when I need it most. All notifications are turned off so it can't disturb me and I can open only when I need to. Though I use Twitter often. Maybe 30-60 minute a day.
• humphreybc 8y ago
  Yes. It was my New Year’s resolution on 31 December 2017 and I deleted my account on 1 January 2018. I’ve been able to focus on growing our startup and getting back to reading; I subscribed to the New Yorker and the Atlantic. That’s primarily how I get my news now. Being off Facebook means I don’t get invited to many events, but I’ve been surprised at how people have adjusted to emailing me or texting me instead. You certainly learn who your real friends are. I also deleted my Twitter account which has been much more cathartic and healthier for me. I was a long time Twitter user, and followed a lot of very liberal people in tech. Unfortunately, after the 2016 election, most of their tweets became political, and my feed was all ranting, whinging, and hate. What’s even worse is that I’m in Australia, so even though I agreed with them, it wasn’t relevant to me.
• luhego 8y ago
  No. All my friends are in facebook and it doesn't cost me a penny. I guess that the privacy issues are not too important for me.
• glovink 8y ago
  ttps://www.businessinsider.com/10-reasons-to-delete-your-facebook-account-2010-5 I joined the Delete Facebook campaign back in 2010, I believe it was the first (big one), we were with 50.000 people. I never returned. No regrets. Eight long years, that's how long this awareness has already been widespread. Geert Lovink
• ljf 8y ago
  I haven't yet deleted my account, but I've been about 3 years 'clean' of Facebook - only dropping in briefly on my birthday as I know people like to wish people a happy birthday there. I've made a real effort to actually connect with the friends I love and want to spend time with, and to text, call, email, write or visit them - all of which are much more impactful than a 'like on fb. I've 'lost out' on interacting with the huge group of friends that I had on Facebook, but you know what, they weren't friends, they were just people I knew or knew of. My real friends I've actually spent a hell of a lot more time with and on. And going from 500 to a 1000 people to 10 to 20 certainly felt like a downgrade at first but within a few weeks I was obvious that it was vastly better for me. Although happy and successful in many ways, Facebook left me feeling anxious and like I wasn't keeping up. With things that I didn't care about. Talking in person removes all of that. I've not yet deleted as I've not yet bothered to pull all my details off there, and I like to return just to tell people that it is OK to leave the party ;)
• flexer2 8y ago
  I deleted mine in early 2017. I still have a “burner” account though. It was from back in the days when you needed a .edu address, and I figured out there was an alternate domain at my school that could be used to receive emails to the same mailbox. I’ve had that account since 2004. I use that to look people up, but I never post on it. I do not miss Facebook in any way, nor do I feel I am missing out on any social stuff without one. My wife deleted hers as well and found it to be incredibly liberating. If someone wants to get in contact me, they’ll find a way. I generally prefer it if people don’t, though.
• thatoneuser 8y ago
  Nope, but after an ex dropping in to randomly flame me for no real reason (perceived, but whatever), I just don’t use it. I have only a few photos from years ago. I have no desire to send mass messages to the friends list I have. I have no desire to acquire a list of friends who want to hear me broadcast messages (is this weird?) I have no desire to listen to the inane posts people make. If I could come in once a week and get a valid chunk of ongoings that interest me - id drop in. But it’s almost always low quality stuff. Maybe my friends are just lame? Maybe I think humans are kinda lame, to sit and study? Idk. I can’t find a reason to get into it.
• aychedee 8y ago
  Yup, I did. And don't miss it at all.
• gaius 8y ago
  No, but I haven’t used it in over a year. My reasoning is that they will track me anyway (shadow profile) and I want to maintain a handle just in case GDPR has any teeth that I can use later.
• hiven 8y ago
  Yes I did. Didn’t miss it at all.
• ulfw 8y ago
  No. I simply stopped updating it. Completely. I also ran a script to delete every post I ever made. Barely use it now (mostly for talking to folks on Messenger). Wish I could get rid of Whatsapp too.
• randomsearch 8y ago
  Didn’t delete, but deleted the app and stopped using it. Very occasionally drop on to look something up, or to browse say once a month or so. I downloaded my data and started deleting everything. I started messaging friends to ensure I had up to date contact info. Then I realised it was just easier to leave the account alone. Never look at it at work anymore, don’t post anything other than the occasional article on how social media is bad for your health! You quickly learn who your real friends are - we have long phone conversations every few months instead. Much more satisfying and meaningful. Interacting through a screen is an extremely poor substitute for a phone or face to face conversation. Attention span improved, extremely focused at work. When I drop back in I always see the same small subset of people posting the same kind of thing: they’re evidently consistently bored or addicted, and there is very little of value there. Still use messenger a bit, but use Signal and SMS as much as possible. Completely stopped using instagram, it’s a whole extra level of narcissism that I can’t stand. I’d love to see some competition in this space. Small simple apps for chat and photo albums and status updates, chronologically ordered, with a small monetisation fee / freemium model. Please, someone bring back functional social networks.
• squirrelicus 8y ago
  I deleted mine in 2010, though I've made plenty of dummy accounts for work purposes. I did this because I noticed my ability to write and communicate was degenerating. In some ways I'm still recovering since I still use IM
• smir 8y ago
  Yes, and my life is better already. Sure I missed some events, but if FB is the only way to communicate with me, then we actually have no real relationship/friendship.. etc
• ionised 8y ago
  I deleted in 2017. 2018 just confirmed that it was the right decision. Can't say I feel like I'm missing anything either.
• iddqd 8y ago
  Just did, thanks for the reminder. Had to first show my parents some alternative ways of messaging me outside of Facebook, but no I’m all set.
• ryanmercer 8y ago
  No and see no reason to. I've 100+ Facebook friends that are fellow strength athletes, 99% of the time you find out about competitions via facebook friends sharing or expressing interest in attending. It's how we plan social events at the facility I barbell at, the local Atari club I belong to etc. It's how I find out about local shows without having to monitor local venue websites which may or may not be updated (some haven't been updated in years). Most of my friends no longer live anywhere near me in Indy. I have friends in Australia, New Zealand, Florida, San Francisco, Germany, England, Hungary... Facebook is how I see what is going on in their lives and Facebook messenger is how I keep in touch with all of the ones now outside of the United States. I don't mindlessly scroll through. People and pages that are important to me are marked as 'see first'. When I open Facebook I'll scroll 5-10 posts (a few times a day) unless I'm waiting on an appointment/oil change/whatever and then I'll scroll past that. As far as privacy concerns... yeah I don't care. My domain is my name, my username just about everywhere is my name, if I share it online I don't care if every single human being alive sees it. If I don't want people seeing it, I... don't share it online.
• tim333 8y ago
  No, and I keep a fb tab open. I actually quite like Facebook and the messenger thing is handy in that it works on the laptop with a real keyboard rather than being forced to poke at a bit of glass on the phone like many apps.
• Markoff 8y ago
  i deleted it earlier i was also the only parent in kindergarten out of 100 children who had problem to sign consent with publishing photos of my child on Facebook, since then kindergarten backpedaled and will discontinue using Facebook for photos and other communication and use their own site plus they upload photos to password protected galleries on other local photo sharing website without attaching names of children speaking of backpedaling, photos and deleting accounts with Flickr deadline approaching in few days i am also gonna delete wives and mine Flickr/yahoo accounts and all photos, ain't gonna bring them any visitors with 1000 photos they let me store there after luring me to 1TB offer
• pmlnr 8y ago
  Deactivated it about half a year ago, because it wasn't showing me anything relevant any more, only shares and likes. Ever since that I realized I need to go back to the internet and actively trace my interests - music, concerts, art, etc. I nearly forgotten how to do it, but it's worth it. As for "missing out": never happened. If I was interested in doing something, I found a way to find it. Random invitations did not get to me, true, but that is OK. Losing "friends": I know a lot less of everyday nonsense. Turned out nobody was using facebook to share their real life or thoughts any more. Exchanging a few emails, meeting up, even if it's once a bluemoon, makes a complete difference.
• sontek 8y ago
  Yes! My wife is angry because most of our photos were on my account.
• CM30 8y ago
  No, though there's so little data on it and I check it so rarely I probably could have done so without losing anything. But I guess if you run a website with social media channels, you need a Facebook/Twitter/YouTube/Reddit/etc presence.
• pard68 8y ago
  Twice in 2018. Once because I wanted to remove it, the politics, the drama, and the big brother from my life. The second time because Facebook didn't actually delete my account the first time. I haven't checked to see if they have honor my request this time around. Maybe I will check next year.
• deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
• mtnGoat 8y ago
  No, but I removed the app from my phone and probably only sign in weekly now. I also block all their tracking domains in my hosts file.
• ozychhi 8y ago
  Yes. I deactivated my account in June and haven't logged in since then.
• unforeseen9991 8y ago
  Yes, I deleted mine earlier in the year. It creeps me out on privacy grounds, and was a net negative to life satisfaction. I believe in technology being able to foster and improve things in the social and community aspects of people's lives, but I do know for sure Facebook is not it.
• barrow-rider 8y ago
  Deleted it in 2008 -- before it was cool! ...but ended up creating 2 accounts for businesses in ~2015-2016. Still on linkedin, reddit, HN, twitter, and tumblr. No whatapp or insta.
• dedalus 8y ago
  Yes
• chewz 8y ago
  October 2013
• JCharante 8y ago
  No, I ended up creating one. I've had an account for the longest of times where I had family I never talk to who are just virtue signalling, but I wanted to start fresh as I started college, and I wanted a way to keep track of what schools my old classmates were moving to. It was a great decision as a lot of people use messenger, and sometimes reception can be a bit non-existent in subbasements.
• arh68 8y ago
  Yes, in May. DNS-blocked the domains with my Pi-Hole later this year. No regrets! Something better will come along.
• iKevinShah 8y ago
  Late to the party but yes, not only did I delete Facebook (which provided me updates about my friends' lives [mostly superficial]) but also deleted instagram, twitter and LinkedIN. Just coz I did not think they provided value compared to the effort I had to put in, at least on LinkedIN. It was weird initially just unlocking the cellphone and not having that now-learned-pattern of unlock->facebook subconsciously and then do whatever I was going to do. Do I miss it? No. Do I miss updates? Yes. A lot of times my friends msg me (SMS / Whatsapp mostly) that so and so has happened so get in touch with the person to congratulate / condolences. I fear the that once my friends stop informing me and I'll be uninformed of anything major regarding any of the acquaintances, for real.
• lucaszvdo 8y ago
  2016
• happppy 8y ago
  Not deleted but stopped using fb. Haven't affected anything at all except now I feel like I don't have friends because of 0 interaction but am happy with it.