Ask HN: Did you delete your Facebook account in 2018? - digianarchist
======
Carpetsmoker
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.

~~~
frereubu
I missed my friend's 50th birthday party because I wasn't on Facebook (haven't
been for around 3-4 years), and he assumed that everyone he wanted there was.
That stung enough for me to think about it, but whenever I see people
scrolling through their feeds there's so much drivel that I immediately go off
the idea again.

~~~
seppin
> I missed my friend's 50th birthday party because I wasn't on Facebook

Hate to break it to you, but he's not really your friend. You would have known
about it directly or through someone else if so. Facebook is for finding out
about events / people who aren't close to you, but you're still interested in.
That's its value.

~~~
Carpetsmoker
I think this is too harsh. Organising a grand 50th birthday is a lot of
effort, and forgetting that one friend (who may not be a _close_ friend but
still a _friend_ ) doesn't have Facebook is easy enough.

~~~
bigiain
"Easy enough" \- only if your default way of thinking is "all my friends are
facebook friends".

That's plain lazy thinking, it's completely giving up on your privacy-aware
friends because Zuckerberg makes doing that so so easy. What a surprise.

~~~
Carpetsmoker
There are many systemic wrongs that are worth fighting to change, and a single
person can't possibly fight them all at the same time. You can't expect
everyone to be deeply invested in the privacy cause; some people care more
about, say, feminism, or veganism, or homelessness, or something else. That's
okay, too.

~~~
bigiain
Oh, I 100% agree.

We all choose our own battles and our own hills to die on.

And deep down, I suspect many of us (or at the very least "me") choose those
battles and hills for not entirely rational or "for the greater good" reasons.

Having said that, if your battle is feminism you don't remain engaged with and
support "locker room talk". If your battle is veganism you don't remain
engaged with groups of butchers or hunters. One of my battles is privacy - I'm
not going to support or enable surveillance capitalism, even though I know the
social cost I'll incur there.

There's an unkind stereotype about vegans "Hoe do you know if someone's a
vegan? Don't worry, they'll tell you..." \- but that reveals an admirable
trait shared by "them" collectively, if you aren't speaking out for what you
believe in - you're enabling and maintaining things which you do not believe
in.

~~~
mojoe
This was well-articulated, and your example was good. I'm not vegan, but I
dislike the vitriolic 'jokes' that many of them are subjected to -- voicing
your beliefs is certainly an admirable trait to me.

------
zenexer
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.”

~~~
unicornporn
> 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
> Quitting Facebook may not a choice without severe consequences

You know you're living in a time of peace when not having Facebook is
considered to have _severe consequences_.

~~~
bigiain
Or it's indicative of the battlefields of the (very near) future...

~~~
LUmBULtERA
Or both.

------
CharlesW
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-m...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/social-book-post-
manager/ljfidlkcmdmmibngdfikhffffdmphjae?hl=en-US)

~~~
devereaux
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
What do you mean? What's the relationship?

~~~
whatshisface
The parent is suggesting that Facebook refused to sell them an Occulus because
they were not active enough on the social media website.

~~~
zapzupnz
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.

------
IIAOPSW
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.

~~~
ksangeelee
I agree, it never deserved to be taken seriously. When my wife deleted her
account, I found it quite bizarre that people were asking questions like 'how
are you coping?'.

To me, it's just a website - I wondered how absurd that same question would
sound had it been a pistonheads or mumsnet account she was deleting.

------
wenc
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
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.

------
plahteenlahti
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

~~~
hh3k0
> 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.

------
nilshauk
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
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

------
ravenstine
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
> 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
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
And, if you operate a website, gatekeeping of others access to you.

------
ThalesX
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
> […] 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.

~~~
hagurganus
> […] it's not necessary to drop a service as long as you get to control how
> it works for you

I agree with this, and this is why I still have a FB account (for now).

> The data mining and shadow profiling are the cost you pay for a free service

I believe the OP was saying that “the way FB mines your data is the cost they
charge for their service”, not necessarily that this has always been the cost
of every free service, or that this is a cost that everyone should be willing
to pay.

It’s more like “if you manage the notifications so it’s only a part of your
life when you want it to be, and you understand and are okay with the data
mining and shadow profiling they do to support their service, then there’s not
much to be gained from deleting your FB account.” At least that’s how I feel
(again, for now).

~~~
ThalesX
Thank you for trying to clarify my point, you are very spot on.

I think Facebook as a service SHOULD have access to how you use the platform
AS you use it and if you can stop it from tracking your behavior outside their
ecosystem and gamifying your interaction with it, I do believe that there's
not that much to gain from deleting your account.

There's an argument to be made for their unethical addiction provoking
implementations, but until another platform comes up with a working business
model and a lack of psychological tricks, one would be arguing against the
windmills.

------
ashelmire
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
> 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."

~~~
50656E6973
"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

------
andrepd
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.

------
sm4rk0
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
Just in case you didn't know, deleting posts or your account here is
impossible.

------
troquerre
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/nkhecjgkf...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/marathon/nkhecjgkfpkkcejhbmfjghcokmhbmoed).

~~~
mlok
I cut my usage by logging out of Facebook and only using messenger.com (on my
desktop browser, i would never install an app)

------
Mugwort
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.

------
ngngngng
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
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?

------
solatic
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
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
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.

------
fgandiya
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.

------
twodave
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
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

------
quickthrower2
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
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.

------
0x4d464d48
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.

~~~
jogjayr
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.

------
basitmakine
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
You are right. Nothing better than a company using your _private_ messages for
targeted ads!

~~~
basitmakine
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
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
And it is so much better, because when I'm thinking about X anyway my though
process is not hijacked in an uncomfortable way by ads about X, and so
sometimes I actually look at them instead of using energy to disregard them
and _gasp_ have even clicked on one or two.

------
humphreybc
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.

------
atemerev
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
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.

------
debaserab2
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.

------
blck
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.

------
anonacct37
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.

------
smilesnd
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.

------
mortivore
Yes. I wasn't using it for the last few years. Just decided to pull the
trigger, and end it this year.

------
dvcrn
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.

------
macawfish
I deleted it in 2015 and just don't miss it ever, at all.

------
wallunit
No, I never used Facebook (or WhatsApp or Instagram) in the first place. ;)

------
nijave
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.

------
zapzupnz
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
> 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
> 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.

~~~
subpixel
Paraphrased as: "I can't disconnect from FB or I wont' be able to communicate
with anyone. No options exist!"

If everyone thought that way we'd be in sorry shape. Oh, wait...

------
wreath
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.

------
decasteve
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.

------
danschumann
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.

------
the_clarence
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.

------
sbilstein
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.

------
givinguflac
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.

------
cjhanks
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.

------
donohoe
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.

------
Jaruzel
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)

------
newman8r
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.

------
ishan_chhabra
No. Instead, I use Facebook News Feed Eradicator
([https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/news-feed-
eradicat...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/news-feed-eradicator-
for/fjcldmjmjhkklehbacihaiopjklihlgg?hl=en)) 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.

------
newscracker
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”).

------
ryanmercer
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.

------
randomsearch
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.

------
knodi123
Yep. I used [https://deletefacebook.com/](https://deletefacebook.com/) which
made it straightforward and easy.

------
madmax108
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).

------
ljf
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 ;)

------
spondyl
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

------
chriswarbo
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
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
> 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)
)

------
regnerba
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.

------
nstart
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
When i removed it from my phone they started sending push notifications
through the browser. It was kinda pathetic.

------
ksec
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.

------
crypt1d
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.

------
superasn
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.

------
starik36
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.

------
hrydgard
No, but further reduced my use of it, Instagram and Whatsapp. It's not like
deleting is likely to actually do very much anyway...

------
luhego
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.

------
williamstein
No. I love sharing random pictures of my dog with my mother, and other friends
and relatives. Facebook works really well for this.

------
gregf
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.

------
sverige
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.

------
dijit
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.

------
chauhankiran
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!

------
rodriguezartavi
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.

------
catacombs
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.

------
yeuxverte
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
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?

------
Inviz
Yes, didn't miss it. I also deleted twitter, which was far more useful, but
still I think it was good idea.

------
ublaze
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
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.)

------
Chazprime
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.

------
trulyrandom
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.

------
vonseel
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.

------
matz1
No, still use it, no reason to delete.

------
iKevinShah
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.

------
elAhmo
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
If you only need it for 2FA, maybe install it on a second Android profile,
fast switching is pretty nice

------
danieldk
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.

------
hellofunk
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.

------
oblib
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.

------
restlessdesign
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.

------
gordaco
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.

------
Tomte
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).

------
pmlnr
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.

------
nuguy
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.

------
a9a
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

------
rasengan0
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.

------
roydivision
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.

------
flexer2
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.

------
nradov
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.

------
compscistd
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

------
jompe
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
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.

------
mimimi333
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.

------
myself248
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
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.

------
flixic
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.

------
tinyhouse
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.

------
marwarii
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.

------
Waterluvian
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.

------
georgeecollins
Yes. Now my wife complains I act smug about every social media story.

Otherwise all fine.

------
garyrichardson
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.

------
barbecue_sauce
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.

------
TACIXAT
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.

------
ryebreadistasty
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.

------
jxramos
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.

------
avip
I never had one. But I deleted my Linkedin account to stay cool.

------
u801e
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.

------
JCharante
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.

------
robotixonic
Yes. Downloaded everything and deleted/deactivated the account. Also deleted
my business page. My happiness level increased immediately.

------
placebo
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.

------
chx
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)

------
lscotte
No, I did it in 2011 and haven't looked back.

------
dmitrybrant
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.

------
glovink
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

------
rubyfan
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.

------
b1r6
No but I've been using it much less in recent years. Extract the positive
utility, while ignoring all the mental junk.

------
jsmeaton
No. I still use it to keep in contact with many friends and family. But I’ve
stopped posting, checking in to places, etc.

------
LargeWu
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
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
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
Thanks. Interesting to know...

------
DyslexicAtheist
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
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.

------
aantix
No. Because it’s still relevant. And useful.

------
jdmoreira
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!

------
cm2012
FYI FB's daily user count has been steady in the US for over 3 years at 181m
ish. No decline with controversy.

~~~
reaperducer
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.

------
aychedee
Yup, I did. And don't miss it at all.

------
Solar19
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.

------
mirimir
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)

------
luord
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.

------
unforeseen9991
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.

------
m0zg
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.

------
pard68
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.

------
misiti3780
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

------
Pfhreak
I deleted my Facebook account in 2013. I've been screaming into the void about
it ever since.

------
froderick
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.

------
1rae
Wait till you realise every website has facebook 2FA and it's easier to just
login with it.

~~~
acct1771
Wait until you realize it's easier to just soil yourself, rather than use a
toilet.

------
blue_eyes1978
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.

------
Markoff
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

------
sergiotapia
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.

------
sandov
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.

------
CM30
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.

------
yial
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.

------
vasilipupkin
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.

------
brainless
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.

------
MrStonedOne
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.

------
qrybam
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.

------
tim333
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.

------
XorNot
No and not planning too. It's how I keep in touch with my far flung family.

------
dbg31415
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
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
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...](https://www.wired.com/story/signal-foundation-whatsapp-brian-acton/)

~~~
regnerba
This basically describes it: [https://support.signal.org/hc/en-
us/articles/360007320551-Li...](https://support.signal.org/hc/en-
us/articles/360007320551-Linked-Devices)

> 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.

------
simplecomplex
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.

------
jetrink
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.

------
squirrelicus
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

------
kamonrye
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).

------
sedeki
Yes, I did. Second time. Hopefully I can resist to join a third time.

------
__d
No, but I deleted it in 2017, and didn't really miss it in 2018.

------
clircle
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.

------
Iknown0thing
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?

------
paulcole
Nope, I finally made one!

------
bsenftner
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.

------
gfodor
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.

------
thijsvandien
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.

------
un_montagnard
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.

------
happppy
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.

------
rabidrat
Yes, and just organized our first NYE party via email (evite).

------
minism
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.

------
dev1n
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.

------
smir
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

------
bane
No, but I've definitely been giving it a serious rest.

------
Teknoman117
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...

------
village-idiot
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.

------
yesenadam
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.

------
lousken
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.)

------
CrazedGeek
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.

------
barrow-rider
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.

------
iddqd
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.

------
caseysoftware
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.

------
daveid
Yes, I deleted mine! Deleted my Twitter account too

------
mtnGoat
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.

------
shurcooL
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.

------
phillipamann
Yes. I deleted everything except LinkedIn this year. I will delete that soon.
I wish I could delete everything including this site...

~~~
friedman23
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
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.

------
arh68
Yes, in May. DNS-blocked the domains with my Pi-Hole later this year. No
regrets! Something better will come along.

------
stockkid
I did several years ago. But I still find myself using Messenger and WhatsApp.
My goal is to move off those platforms.

------
gibatronic
No. Instead, I unfollowed almost everyone!

So far to me, it seems to be the best of both worlds: having & not having
Facebook.

------
c22
No, but I stopped signing into it back in 2015. I figured deleting it would
just give them another datapoint on me.

------
RpFLCL
No, I did it in 2012 and never looked back. The writing has been on the walls
for the better part of a decade

------
mcbutterbunz
Yes but I still have my Instagram account. Deleting my account was a cross
between protest and lack of use.

------
akinhwan
I didn't delete it, but I haven't logged in over 3 months. Longest stretch I
can remember

------
systematical
Only removed from phone. Perhaps pointless because I still have Instagram and
whatsapp installed.

------
jomoho
I removed the app and only use lite version of messenger to stay in touch with
a few people.

------
mrmondo
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.

------
danso
Nope, still the best way to keep in contact with casual friends, e.g. for
school reunions

------
dvtrn
Yes. Quite a few friendships faded away with it. Quite a few others
strengthened.

I'm good with that.

------
cft
No but I uninstalled the app in 2016 and stop posting. I only use it as White
Pages now

------
pps43
Yes. Planned to open a burner when really needed. So far there's been no need
to.

------
codyb
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.

------
AlexCoventry
Long ago, and many times. I do recreate one periodically, when I have a need
for it.

------
tsuyoshi
I never had a Facebook account.

------
sweetp
I deleted mine in late 2017 :)

------
avodonosov
No, I deleted it years before.

------
_jn
Yes. I no longer had a need for it after leaving the private group I joined
for.

------
ozychhi
Yes. I deactivated my account in June and haven't logged in since then.

------
seppin
Yes, and stepped up usage of Whatsapp and IG. So what was the point of that?

------
pmav
I didn't deleted it yet, but I still didn't accept the GDPR terms.

------
revskill
Currently, i only use Facebook to watch streaming gaming, nothing more.

------
sontek
Yes! My wife is angry because most of our photos were on my account.

------
im1983
No. But I deleted their native app.

Switching to browser mode reduced the time I spend.

------
jaboutboul
Deleted mine in 2012. Saw this coming a long time ago...

------
Applejinx
I just unfollow nearly everybody, and don't post.

------
BerislavLopac
Done it in 2014, been Facebookless (Faceless?) since.

------
quakeguy
No, did it already in 2011. Never missed it since.

------
MehdiHK
Deactivated it. Still using the Messenger though.

------
jostmey
No, I just didn’t log into Facebook, like ever

------
michaelcampbell
Disabled. Seeing how I manage. So far so good.

------
ulfw
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.

------
ealhad
No. I did it in 2016, never looked back :)

------
pcunite
Thank you for reminding me to do this.

------
dade_
No, in 2014. Bunch of yellowbellies.

------
hiven
Yes I did. Didn’t miss it at all.

------
IloveHN84
No, in 2017

------
earenndil
Nope, I never had an account.

------
theDoug
Yes

------
codewritinfool
Yes.

------
ilrwbwrkhv
yup.. didnt use it for months now.. and felt right to do it this year.

------
Ricndidn
Yup. Who needs that noise?

------
droithomme
I still don't use it.

------
mscasts
No I deleted mine in 2017

------
miguelrochefort
No.

I use Messenger daily, and Feed weekly.

------
kizer
I deleted it in 2016.

------
joegahona
Yes, and Instagram.

------
jijji
maybe ur just upset that dob made it and u didnt

------
clarry
I never had one.

------
voyager2

      You can't delete something you never had.

------
stephenamills
lol, no, defintely did not delete it.

------
cbush06
Yes. Deleted.

------
franciscop
No, I deleted it in 2017 (or was it 2016?) :)

------
chewz
October 2013

------
timkofu
Yes I did.

------
lucaszvdo
2016

------
dedalus
Yes

------
d6e
Yes.

------
PaulHoule
Yes.

------
sudofail
Yep

------
tobyhinloopen
Yes

------
ggm
Yes

------
enneff
Yes.

------
newer_guy
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.

------
thatoneuser
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.

------
bengrunfeld
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.

------
gaius
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.

------
maxhedrome
Lol I’ve been advocating for people to delete that shit since 2009

------
ionised
I deleted in 2017.

2018 just confirmed that it was the right decision.

Can't say I feel like I'm missing anything either.

