I deleted my FB account a couple of years ago for many of the reasons cited in the article. There is, however, a social cost to not being on FB, especially if y

I deleted my FB account a couple of years ago for many of the reasons cited in the article. There is, however, a social cost to not being on FB, especially if your social circle is not technologically adept. A salient example: An old friend of mine (like many people, I gather) has gradually slipped into a mode where she uses FB exclusively for electronic communication. She no longer checks her email accounts. She only uses FB messaging and FB status updates to keep in touch with her friends. In today's "simplify your life" culture (which I think is a good thing, generally) she has pared down her electronic footprint to a single service, FB. Recently I discovered through a mutual friend (over email) that my friend's mother is basically dying of cancer, she has travelled back home to be with her mother, etc etc. I didn't know any of this because I'm not on FB, and FB is where my friend chose to inform everyone, keep everyone up to date on progress, appeal for donations, organize social events, etc. Sure, I could be in touch by telephone, and obviously I wasn't ... but what if your friend(s) are not really phone people? I guess the point of this comment is, what if your friends are FB people? If you choose not to be, there is a social cost. Having said all that, I still will not establish a (new) FB account. (I presume despite deleting it, my old one still exists somewhere in the bowels of their servers)