Deleting Facebook permanently(blog.spacehey.com)
blog.spacehey.com
Deleting Facebook permanently
https://blog.spacehey.com/entry?id=4054
233 comments
I am 28 and none of my peers is using FB anymore. I have some older friends that do their yearly christmas party invite on FB and some people who chat with me on FB messenger. There primarily are ads, spam, people posting commercial content and people congratulating each other for their birthdays. Is facebook this dead for anyone else?
I'm 23 and I use it for memes, groups (photography, cars), local events, and keeping up with some of my less 'close' family members (as in, it's the only reasonable means I have of contacting them). I occasionally post some of my photography projects so my grandparents can see them. FB Marketplace is leagues better than Craigslist and I have sold several items on it. Don't get me wrong, I hate facebook, but if used moderately/correctly, it isn't terrible. It's definitely not my preferred social network, nor is it by any of my peers the same age as me.
I am OLD - I had FB when it was a private, university-only, and people were giving out their dorm buildings and rooms.
My FB was becoming a ghost town 5 years ago, so I stopped using it, then deleted my "real" profile. I maintain a shell account now for Marketplace, Groups, and Messenger. I have the "light" apps on my phone with all requested permissions denied.
Marketplace SUCKS from a usability perspective, but it's become equally as active than CL in my area.
Groups are a goldmine of information - my neighborhood has one that is active, I have an active one for my model vehicle, and there are B/S/T groups that are nice, as well. Groups have effectively killed the old Forums/Bulletin Boards.
Messenger is required if you want to buy/sell, etc. I don't use it for anything useful.
My FB was becoming a ghost town 5 years ago, so I stopped using it, then deleted my "real" profile. I maintain a shell account now for Marketplace, Groups, and Messenger. I have the "light" apps on my phone with all requested permissions denied.
Marketplace SUCKS from a usability perspective, but it's become equally as active than CL in my area.
Groups are a goldmine of information - my neighborhood has one that is active, I have an active one for my model vehicle, and there are B/S/T groups that are nice, as well. Groups have effectively killed the old Forums/Bulletin Boards.
Messenger is required if you want to buy/sell, etc. I don't use it for anything useful.
The new 'Dating' feature is pretty good too. Not overly monetised unlike the alternatives like Tinder.
If by "not overly" you mean "completely and invisibly", then sure.
There's extra financial value in knowing who is attracted to whom.
I cannot imagine just how terrible the privacy must be for people dating via Facebook.
There's extra financial value in knowing who is attracted to whom.
I cannot imagine just how terrible the privacy must be for people dating via Facebook.
Yeah, of course, the data is what you pay with. But it's sure as hell nicer than seeing an advert every few swipes, constant notifications asking you to pay for expensive tiers of memberships etc. etc.
I've been very inactive, in the older age range. That's a big shift. It was driven by the move to just constant clickbait controversy / political shares in news feed and other factors. Way back in feb I made a post suggesting masks might be a low cost / useful way to reduce spread of covid, that was attacked by everyone as not recommended and that they don't work, and so I just gave up on facebook at that point.
I still have the account. But have not logged in in months. There is one or two people who that is the only way I can contact them at all. I have been backing away from it for about 3-4 years now. My wife blew away her account 5-6 years ago. It was mostly a nice way to reminisce about old friendships, at first. But then you quickly remembered why they are no longer current friends.
I figured out that Facebook itself is not awful. It may be in many ways, but it is my 'friends' who drove me away. When I was around them they seemed semi normal. But put them behind a keyboard and the truth came out of what they were and how they really thought about me and my beliefs. Their inner keyboard warrior came out. They were not real friends but 'friends' of proximity. I had confused friendly with friends.
I figured out that Facebook itself is not awful. It may be in many ways, but it is my 'friends' who drove me away. When I was around them they seemed semi normal. But put them behind a keyboard and the truth came out of what they were and how they really thought about me and my beliefs. Their inner keyboard warrior came out. They were not real friends but 'friends' of proximity. I had confused friendly with friends.
> They were not real friends but 'friends' of proximity. I had confused friendly with friends.
I had similar feelings before I left Facebook. This sort of thing even irked me back in high school, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why.
Every time it was my birthday, my timeline (or "wall" as I think it's known on FB) was inundated with Birthday wishes and greetings. Most of these greetings and wishes came from people who very rarely, if ever, talked to me on FB and oftentimes, never talked to me in real life (Usually my "true" friends would send me a direct message and wish me a Happy Birthday), and these people most certainly wouldn't know when my birthday was if Facebook hadn't reminded them.
It all just seemed so disingenuous, fake, and at the risk of exaggerating, inhuman. It all felt so joyless and disconnected. Before I left FB, I simply got to the point where I wouldn't comment, like, or interact with these birthday wishes in any way. Eventually, the amount of birthday wishes I received became less and less. Thinking about it now, I probably should've just removed my birthday from Facebook.
Regardless, I'm happier without Facebook and I certainly don't miss it.
I had similar feelings before I left Facebook. This sort of thing even irked me back in high school, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why.
Every time it was my birthday, my timeline (or "wall" as I think it's known on FB) was inundated with Birthday wishes and greetings. Most of these greetings and wishes came from people who very rarely, if ever, talked to me on FB and oftentimes, never talked to me in real life (Usually my "true" friends would send me a direct message and wish me a Happy Birthday), and these people most certainly wouldn't know when my birthday was if Facebook hadn't reminded them.
It all just seemed so disingenuous, fake, and at the risk of exaggerating, inhuman. It all felt so joyless and disconnected. Before I left FB, I simply got to the point where I wouldn't comment, like, or interact with these birthday wishes in any way. Eventually, the amount of birthday wishes I received became less and less. Thinking about it now, I probably should've just removed my birthday from Facebook.
Regardless, I'm happier without Facebook and I certainly don't miss it.
> Way back in feb I made a post suggesting masks might be a low cost / useful way to reduce spread of covid, that was attacked by everyone as not recommended and that they don't work
Was this back when the CDC guidelines were saying the same? I can't fault lay people for placing faith in the words of supposed science/data-driven institutions (if that was what was happening rather than people spouting ridiculous conspiracy theories).
Was this back when the CDC guidelines were saying the same? I can't fault lay people for placing faith in the words of supposed science/data-driven institutions (if that was what was happening rather than people spouting ridiculous conspiracy theories).
They're all just on other facebook platforms like IG / WhatsApp anyway.
I find nothing more dumbfounding than people who talk about quitting facebook, but are on insta daily.
I use instagram because several of my friends are amazing photographers and I like their photo diary uploads, others are graphic artists who often release their work in progress on the platform. I quit facebook because it stopped serving any useful purpose to how I consume content from actual friends and in general became rather boring.
Is this an equally dumbfounding use?
Is this an equally dumbfounding use?
No, your scenario suggests you migrated platforms because one stopped being useful and one was more useful, which is just a clear example of network effects, and sensible.
It would be silly if your reason for quitting FB was because you were opposed to them, and then you ran onto IG anyway. Sort of silly when that happens.
It would be silly if your reason for quitting FB was because you were opposed to them, and then you ran onto IG anyway. Sort of silly when that happens.
Fair enough. I was just wondering where the lines of nuance were being drawn.
I have a niece who posts photos more to Instagram than to the family group chat (2/3 iPhone, 1/3 Android).
I don't have any Facebook apps on my phone, tablet, or computer. I use Instagram and Facebook with Firefox with them locked to a Facebook container. For Instagram, I use User/Agent Switcher to tell it that I'm on an iPad using Safari. It works well except that Facebook won't let me set up two-factor authentication and asks me every time to download the app.
Every once in a while Facebook asks me to join the Facebook and Instagram accounts and I refuse to do so. I assume that they're combining the data anyway. But Facebook does let me use a security key as 2FA and I don't want to lose that.
The major downside is that I can't post to Instagram. But that would bother me more if I were a better photographer or my kids were younger than teenagers.
I also use Fluff-Busting Purity (formerly Facebook Purity) and two kinds of ad-blockers (AdGuard DNS on the router, uBlock Origin in the browser).
I don't have any Facebook apps on my phone, tablet, or computer. I use Instagram and Facebook with Firefox with them locked to a Facebook container. For Instagram, I use User/Agent Switcher to tell it that I'm on an iPad using Safari. It works well except that Facebook won't let me set up two-factor authentication and asks me every time to download the app.
Every once in a while Facebook asks me to join the Facebook and Instagram accounts and I refuse to do so. I assume that they're combining the data anyway. But Facebook does let me use a security key as 2FA and I don't want to lose that.
The major downside is that I can't post to Instagram. But that would bother me more if I were a better photographer or my kids were younger than teenagers.
I also use Fluff-Busting Purity (formerly Facebook Purity) and two kinds of ad-blockers (AdGuard DNS on the router, uBlock Origin in the browser).
I mean, they're different products. There are good reasons for quitting the Facebook social network product which are separate from reasons for quitting all Facebook-owned products.
My take is that FB lost its value when it started to become taken over by content that wasn't part of its initial offerings. Instead of photos and personal posts, we mostly see news, political posts, ads, pages, groups, etc. It starts to become more like an aggregator of things we did not initially intend to follow, but we've chosen to follow bit-by-bit - maybe that speaks to the design of Facebook leading us down that road.
Instagram was better for the longest time. I noticed a trend of friends using Facebook for events and nothing else, but they were still posting personal content on Instagram. But during this presidency, with everyone being politically charged and angry all the time, I noticed people were posting political content to leverage their Instagram followers, and now that too is overwhelmed by it.
All that said, Twitter comes off to me as the biggest cesspool. Its entire format is built around short hot takes, sniping at others, "virality", and other societal dark patterns. Reddit is almost at the same degree of cesspoolery with their new designs. Both are also a lot more of an echo chamber than Facebook for me, although I do like that you can use them anonymously (without a real name). Personally, I really can't see why all this hatred is directed at Facebook when Twitter and Reddit are around.
But this isn't a binary choice either. I do get the sense that society would be better off if everyone disengaged and de-escalated from social media in general. It's just hard because it's an effective way to spread one's (political) ideas and gain exposure, and so it's a bit like asking for mutual disarmament.
Instagram was better for the longest time. I noticed a trend of friends using Facebook for events and nothing else, but they were still posting personal content on Instagram. But during this presidency, with everyone being politically charged and angry all the time, I noticed people were posting political content to leverage their Instagram followers, and now that too is overwhelmed by it.
All that said, Twitter comes off to me as the biggest cesspool. Its entire format is built around short hot takes, sniping at others, "virality", and other societal dark patterns. Reddit is almost at the same degree of cesspoolery with their new designs. Both are also a lot more of an echo chamber than Facebook for me, although I do like that you can use them anonymously (without a real name). Personally, I really can't see why all this hatred is directed at Facebook when Twitter and Reddit are around.
But this isn't a binary choice either. I do get the sense that society would be better off if everyone disengaged and de-escalated from social media in general. It's just hard because it's an effective way to spread one's (political) ideas and gain exposure, and so it's a bit like asking for mutual disarmament.
> Personally, I really can't see why all this hatred is directed at Facebook when Twitter and Reddit are around. But this isn't a binary choice either.
Can't speak for anyone else, but as OP my post isn't about deleting Facebook because social media is rampant cesspool of dopamine hits. But because Facebook, Inc is an evil company and we shouldn't use their products.
Can't speak for anyone else, but as OP my post isn't about deleting Facebook because social media is rampant cesspool of dopamine hits. But because Facebook, Inc is an evil company and we shouldn't use their products.
> But because Facebook, Inc is an evil company and we shouldn't use their products.
Sincere question: what do you mean by this? I don't perceive them as "evil". That comes off as a vague and subjective accusation. What specifically are you referring to? What makes them worse than other organizations?
Sincere question: what do you mean by this? I don't perceive them as "evil". That comes off as a vague and subjective accusation. What specifically are you referring to? What makes them worse than other organizations?
Facebook has shadow accounts, so even if you don't even have an account on Facebook, they know exactly who you are, where you live, what you browse on the web, who your friends are, what you buy and where you buy it from, what illnesses you've been looking up on WebMD, who your health insurance is with, and so much more.
Twitter and Reddit aren't even playing the same game, let alone in the same league.
Twitter and Reddit aren't even playing the same game, let alone in the same league.
> Facebook has shadow accounts
This is typical for every company to the extent that they have the data to do it. Reddit for example, can personalize your feed without needing an account, because they are able to track your behavior based on IP address. Google does the same thing across all their properties, such as YouTube, and arguably their presence is more pervasive than Facebook's.
This is typical for every company to the extent that they have the data to do it. Reddit for example, can personalize your feed without needing an account, because they are able to track your behavior based on IP address. Google does the same thing across all their properties, such as YouTube, and arguably their presence is more pervasive than Facebook's.
I quit it about a year ago and I cannot even remember what it was like having an account, it just seems so strange that this would be such an important part of their online life.
Everybody I know is on Whatsapp/Signal, so I really don't feel like I'm missing anything.
Everybody I know is on Whatsapp/Signal, so I really don't feel like I'm missing anything.
> Everybody I know is on Whatsapp/Signal...
Same, and in addition, everyone I know has since moved to Instagram. I think what Google+ wanted to do with "circles", Twitter and Instagram did it more elegantly with "follows".
Reading between the lines of this presentation at f8 [0], I think, even Zuck's resigned to the fact that Facebook the company is now all about WhatsApp and Instagram.
The more I think about the WhatsApp deal, the less it makes sense for Jan and Brian to have cashed out. It could have been a different world had they not.
[0] https://youtu.be/U8SXVlfh5k0
Same, and in addition, everyone I know has since moved to Instagram. I think what Google+ wanted to do with "circles", Twitter and Instagram did it more elegantly with "follows".
Reading between the lines of this presentation at f8 [0], I think, even Zuck's resigned to the fact that Facebook the company is now all about WhatsApp and Instagram.
The more I think about the WhatsApp deal, the less it makes sense for Jan and Brian to have cashed out. It could have been a different world had they not.
[0] https://youtu.be/U8SXVlfh5k0
> Everybody I know is on Whatsapp/Signal
I wish I could say this. It seems the US is the only country where everyone wants to continue using SMS/iMessage for everything. It's literally the only way to communicate with most of my American friends.
I wish I could say this. It seems the US is the only country where everyone wants to continue using SMS/iMessage for everything. It's literally the only way to communicate with most of my American friends.
The last three weeks I’ve slowly been moving all of my friends and group chats onto Signal (from WhatsApp, which is about to be a huge privacy disaster. If it’s not already...)
Most non-nerd friends just do what they’re told and love the idea of “Signal is WhatsApp but Zuck isn’t reading your messages”.
Most non-nerd friends just do what they’re told and love the idea of “Signal is WhatsApp but Zuck isn’t reading your messages”.
> It seems the US is the only country where everyone wants to continue using SMS/iMessage for everything.
I use Whatsapp regularly and it still can't hold a candle to iMessage. I blame Android adoption, and the fact that Google never built an iMessage competitor so they are stuck with 20 year old SMS.
I use Whatsapp regularly and it still can't hold a candle to iMessage. I blame Android adoption, and the fact that Google never built an iMessage competitor so they are stuck with 20 year old SMS.
Google does have RCS:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Communication_Services
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Communication_Services
I’m 2 years older than you, and I’d say in my friends group, Facebook is still moderately active, with the more social people posting daily still. But it’s also active for my (very large) family, with a lot of my aunts and uncles being on the platform and engaged.
Deleted FB, Insta and Snap a little over four years ago... It was revealing how many friends I actually had compared to how many I thought I had. Surprising as well how much I don't miss it.
Deleted FB long ago enough now that I can't remember when exactly it was, but what I do remember is exactly zero of the people who I talked to primarily on Facebook contacted me any other way despite asking for contact details.
Not only do I not miss it, I'm actively hostile towards Facebook for the damage it does to the idea of friendship.
Not only do I not miss it, I'm actively hostile towards Facebook for the damage it does to the idea of friendship.
Social networks love to throw around the term "friend" as though all the kinds of relationships it denotes are the same. Clearly, it isn't.
There are people I know from mailing lists and newsgroups and fora who are my acquaintances, even though we've never met in meatspace. I have cried over their deaths and been happy at news of their joys.
There are people I remember from tens of years and thousands of miles away, whom I hear from more regularly because of social media networks. That's nice. It's low effort for me, it's low effort for them, and we all get more out of it than we put in.
If what you mean by the word "friend" is, someone who will answer your call in the middle of the night and bring over a shovel and a tarp -- I have only a few of those. Those relationships take more work, and are not fully sustained by social media, though they may be partially supported by it.
There are people I know from mailing lists and newsgroups and fora who are my acquaintances, even though we've never met in meatspace. I have cried over their deaths and been happy at news of their joys.
There are people I remember from tens of years and thousands of miles away, whom I hear from more regularly because of social media networks. That's nice. It's low effort for me, it's low effort for them, and we all get more out of it than we put in.
If what you mean by the word "friend" is, someone who will answer your call in the middle of the night and bring over a shovel and a tarp -- I have only a few of those. Those relationships take more work, and are not fully sustained by social media, though they may be partially supported by it.
Your mention of mailing lists/fora/newsgroups made me wonder about how easy it is for people today to forge those same (non-"friends", but still) close relationships with strangers today. I definitely remember those close bonds with other internet users in the 1990s and early millennium.
However, today due to everyone moving to Facebook and other content silos with a mobile app, independent website forums are severely hollowing out. On some of the forums about various hobbies that I follow, the most active posters left are often extremely curmudgeonly elderly people, and if they hail from very polarized countries they are quick to descend into political rants to the point that they do little on-topic posting. Facebook isn’t a satisfying place for friendship due to the feeds and algorithms, and independent forums can now be high-stress environments. Consequently, the internet feels like a more lonely place than before.
However, today due to everyone moving to Facebook and other content silos with a mobile app, independent website forums are severely hollowing out. On some of the forums about various hobbies that I follow, the most active posters left are often extremely curmudgeonly elderly people, and if they hail from very polarized countries they are quick to descend into political rants to the point that they do little on-topic posting. Facebook isn’t a satisfying place for friendship due to the feeds and algorithms, and independent forums can now be high-stress environments. Consequently, the internet feels like a more lonely place than before.
People being people, they can use any medium they can find to make acquaintances.
Tools being tools, some of them are better than others.
Here's a list of subjects that I know people have bonded over:
- fandom of specific works - generic fandom - fish aquaria - genre literature - a period of history - games (video, board, role-playing, LARP...) - sports - watches - cars - appliance repair - carpentry
You need strict enough moderation that firefights and trolls are quashed immediately, and loose enough moderation that the occasional side-conversation or on-topic rant is allowed through. Proper threading and the ability to know what you've already seen and what is new: those are also necessary.
The internet is what you make of it.
Tools being tools, some of them are better than others.
Here's a list of subjects that I know people have bonded over:
- fandom of specific works - generic fandom - fish aquaria - genre literature - a period of history - games (video, board, role-playing, LARP...) - sports - watches - cars - appliance repair - carpentry
You need strict enough moderation that firefights and trolls are quashed immediately, and loose enough moderation that the occasional side-conversation or on-topic rant is allowed through. Proper threading and the ability to know what you've already seen and what is new: those are also necessary.
The internet is what you make of it.
I feel that your optimism is unfounded. The specific kinds of fora you say are necessary, are a dying breed. They simply aren't as available to an internet user as before the rise of walled silos. Even where a forum is available or a user has the technical skills to put up his own forum, that forum is nothing without people other than yourself congregating there, and they have mainly left forever for the walled gardens.
But aren't all those youngsters using instagram (which is relatively more 'intellectually demeaning' IMO, and still owned by Facebook)?
At this point I feel like instagram is only popular because there is a generation who can't/won't read anymore.
We are slowly turning into degenerates. Maybe Idiocracy was right after all.
I wouldn't say that it is a generation that can't read, rather I would word it as a generation that cannot write. The death of long-form text in user-created content on the web came largely from people starting to use their mobile phone as their primary device. A touch keyboard just isn’t as inviting a tool for expressing thoughts at length as a computer keyboard.
My thoughts exactly. I have literally asked my friends list on facebook to write more - in whichever language they're comfortable with, rather than just posting images of their food or the artificial and inflated display of how rich and happy they are. It's pretty sad, but to each his own, I guess.
I'd say the same shift is happening there
Although the instagram platform is more active than ever for browsing chatting and comments, the individuals aren't posting often and the individual activity has shifted to TikTok.
People used to post images every day on Instagram, that's down to like once a year maybe amongst my friends in their 20s and younger.
With the ephemeral stories being common-ish.
And it seems like most of the viral stories/reels/IGTV are just resyndicated from TikTok.
Meme/activist/comedian/lifestyle brand accounts are like all the static post activity. Which is a lot of activity and growing, but I don't think it is fulfilling the "social network" itch that people think it is, the itch where people have just gotten used to seeing a feed/stream of their friends over the last 15 years. I think that has moved on elsewhere.
Although the instagram platform is more active than ever for browsing chatting and comments, the individuals aren't posting often and the individual activity has shifted to TikTok.
People used to post images every day on Instagram, that's down to like once a year maybe amongst my friends in their 20s and younger.
With the ephemeral stories being common-ish.
And it seems like most of the viral stories/reels/IGTV are just resyndicated from TikTok.
Meme/activist/comedian/lifestyle brand accounts are like all the static post activity. Which is a lot of activity and growing, but I don't think it is fulfilling the "social network" itch that people think it is, the itch where people have just gotten used to seeing a feed/stream of their friends over the last 15 years. I think that has moved on elsewhere.
I have one friend whose wife posts pictures of their infant son on Facebook, other than that yeah, my Facebook account is basically just there so I can use Messenger to talk to mom, sister, and a couple friends who are only there b/c of their friends.
35 here. Facebook never had any significant value for myself or anyone I've talked about it. Some use or had used it as a public blog, some use it to connect to businesses or artists, in the past it was used for second-hand meme reposts, but that's about it, I think.
So, whenever someone makes a fuss about that huge importance of deleting Facebook and how supposedly hard it is - I genuinely fail to understand the problem.
So, whenever someone makes a fuss about that huge importance of deleting Facebook and how supposedly hard it is - I genuinely fail to understand the problem.
I don't use facebook, but one thing I noticed with my parents it that it's pretty much replaced craigslist.
I'm 36 and it has nearly 0 value for me. I still use FB messenger to talk to a lot of my friends from around the world, but outside of that I'd say I haven't actually looked at my Facebook feed in months. I don't see how FB hasn't tanked yet.
One thing I don't see mentioned much here is the local or topic/interest facebook groups.
I have a house in a remote community where it's hard to find contractors and the like. The local FB group has been invaluable in finding local resources, getting to know neighbors, and alerting neighbors of local conditions. The alternatives are basically Nextdoor and craigslist which suffer from network effects among other things.
Of course people use the group as a soap-box or meme/clickbait sprayer at times, but the mods do a pretty good job such that there are very few wortwhile "forked" groups.
Similar applies for a few other interest groups I'm in. Groups.io is starting to eat their lunch on that, and reddit is gaining steam in the mainstream, but again network effects are strong.
When using an app container and limiting engagement with clickbait content, there is still some human value in participating on facebook in these very limited ways.
I have a house in a remote community where it's hard to find contractors and the like. The local FB group has been invaluable in finding local resources, getting to know neighbors, and alerting neighbors of local conditions. The alternatives are basically Nextdoor and craigslist which suffer from network effects among other things.
Of course people use the group as a soap-box or meme/clickbait sprayer at times, but the mods do a pretty good job such that there are very few wortwhile "forked" groups.
Similar applies for a few other interest groups I'm in. Groups.io is starting to eat their lunch on that, and reddit is gaining steam in the mainstream, but again network effects are strong.
When using an app container and limiting engagement with clickbait content, there is still some human value in participating on facebook in these very limited ways.
Almost same for me. People on my network are all relatives +40 years old who share news, political images/memes, and lost dog announcements. Young people dont use it anymore, maybe only for events (not one this year).
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im 42 and i use it to talk to people who i would probably never have met otherwise , but ran into on different facebook groups and such
in addition there are many hobbies groups on FB that have no alternative venue other than old-style forums which suck
and finally FB marketplace has been very useful to me ,especially with this corona situation causing store closings and delays in shipping
in addition there are many hobbies groups on FB that have no alternative venue other than old-style forums which suck
and finally FB marketplace has been very useful to me ,especially with this corona situation causing store closings and delays in shipping
Pretty much everyone under 25 seems to be on Discord
No teenager uses discord as their only social app. It is a supplementary chat app for gaming, chatting with friends and anime. Most are on Instagram or twitter, very few on Facebook.
yes for me it is. By 2012-14 Fb was pretty popular among my peers but after that hardly anyone has updated their profiles or posted anything except for birthday wishes and life events. A few have even deleted their accounts and only use apps like Whatsapp to maintain contact with friends and family
I have only a Messanger app on my smartphone. And using the website from time to time because of some expats groups (hiking, biking).
Yeah basically same purpose as you. FB messenger to talk to some people or have old friends keep in touch.
What are you all using instead?
Snapchat is what my extended family uses to communicate with each other and send fun stuff.
Whatsapp for group communication with friends overseas.
Both of these apps don't have the BS that comes with Facebook.
If you still want to get your fix, TikTok is better platform for getting a mix of interesting content from normal people.
Aside from using Facebook messenger to chat, I don't see a good purpose for Facebook any more, maybe the groups are useful for people?
Whatsapp for group communication with friends overseas.
Both of these apps don't have the BS that comes with Facebook.
If you still want to get your fix, TikTok is better platform for getting a mix of interesting content from normal people.
Aside from using Facebook messenger to chat, I don't see a good purpose for Facebook any more, maybe the groups are useful for people?
Do Snapchat, Whatsapp, whatever else have scheduling features? I have friends that use FB to schedule events and send invites out. And various groups I'm in use the scheduling feature to set event times, etc.
One group I'm in, entirely devoted to online games, has switched to Discord. But there is a 0% chance Discord will be adopted by the rest of the groups/friends that use FB event scheduling and messaging.
One group I'm in, entirely devoted to online games, has switched to Discord. But there is a 0% chance Discord will be adopted by the rest of the groups/friends that use FB event scheduling and messaging.
I don't think Snapchat/Whatsapp has any sort of scheduling features, just sending pics and video to groups of people.
From what friends have said, FB groups features (scheduling, etc.) are what keep them on that platform, along with messenger.
From what friends have said, FB groups features (scheduling, etc.) are what keep them on that platform, along with messenger.
Group texts became the preferred social media platform a few years ago, which is why Facebook bought WhatsApp.
Most of my friends group primarily uses Discord these days. It isn't a full throated replacement for Facebook b/c the server isn't full of anonymous randos, but I don't think most of us want that anyways.
I don't use it, but most of my peers would use Snapchat instead. It doesn't fill the exact same role, but it's the closest I can think of.
Same boat. I mostly use WhatsApp (though, honestly, I don't use it regularly). My wife also uses WeChat.
Signal Messenger
[deleted]
Pretty dead to me. Nobody in my friendlist post anything anymore.
Thats pretty much all facebook was 10 years ago as well.
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Private Facebook groups are pretty fun
They all just shadow banned you by setting the privacy settings on everything they post to exclude you.
What do your friends use?
From a social (ironic) impact perspective:
My first wake up call came from Trump winning the 2016 election, 2nd from Cambridge Analytica. 3rd, The Social Dilemma put the nail in the coffin.
I just could not see myself contributing directly or indirectly to these externalities. The costs outweighed the benefits (if any at all)
PS: I know this post might be marketing for you, but ultimately all social networks will become polluted as long as they encourage the weaknesses/dark sides of human nature. I don’t see Spacehey being any different.
My first wake up call came from Trump winning the 2016 election, 2nd from Cambridge Analytica. 3rd, The Social Dilemma put the nail in the coffin.
I just could not see myself contributing directly or indirectly to these externalities. The costs outweighed the benefits (if any at all)
PS: I know this post might be marketing for you, but ultimately all social networks will become polluted as long as they encourage the weaknesses/dark sides of human nature. I don’t see Spacehey being any different.
After losing control of my Yahoo email after trying to delete it, I have learned that it’s not smart to give up control of something that has your identity.
I never use facebook, but I will never delete it. I don’t trust facebook.
I never use facebook, but I will never delete it. I don’t trust facebook.
Giving up emails or phone numbers can be risky since someone else might take it and do something unpleasant with it.
Facebook accounts cannot be taken that way.
Facebook accounts cannot be taken that way.
When I was younger, a friend created a Facebook account in my name as a joke. My facebook-using parents found it and became very panicked that someone was stealing my identity.
I now have a minimal facebook account that I log in twice a year to keep a current photo. It's like how businesses have to squat their own domain names on TLDs they don't use.
I now have a minimal facebook account that I log in twice a year to keep a current photo. It's like how businesses have to squat their own domain names on TLDs they don't use.
Some years ago my daughter set up a fake account with my name and friended a bunch of people from my old high school. When I found out I changed the password and have ignored it since.
I now have a real account just for my gaming group and my old account occasionally pops up in my suggested friends list.
I now have a real account just for my gaming group and my old account occasionally pops up in my suggested friends list.
I didn’t think of that. It’s a good point, thanks for sharing.
I'm curious if you could go more into the unpleasantness someone could do with an abandoned phone number. I inherited my mom's phone number years ago and recently had to dump it when I swapped my data plan. It honestly feels like the best thing that ever happened to me b/c I used to get daily spam calls and since getting the new number have gotten maybe 1 spam call total in the past two years, so had planned to change my number more frequently going forward.
Account takeover for services where you registered the phone number for verification.
Once you release your id back into the pool, a criminal can commandeer it to attack your other accounts . It could be used for phishing through your network or resetting your other accounts
Keep the account . If you are worried about discipline , reset the password to a random password and lock it in a safe
Keep the account . If you are worried about discipline , reset the password to a random password and lock it in a safe
Haha how did I get downvoted on this sound advice ?
That’s a terribly generalized advice. At least in the EU companies are obliged to delete your data (I don’t know about the US). Of course whether they delete it is another matter but that would be a violation of GDPR.
At the end of the day it boils down to trust. It’s general because companies are not trustworthy in general.
Interesting point. Better to have a 'real' facebook than some imposter pretending to be you.
In some ways for a business, not having a facebook is like not having a URL.
In some ways for a business, not having a facebook is like not having a URL.
But if you don't have a FB account, how will customs ever let you into whatever country you are trying to enter?
You are tacitly voting that Facebook should be viewed as an arbiter of identity by taking this point of view.
When society views Facebook as part of your identity you're forced to also keep it. It's not always possible for individuals to reject it.
You end up with this self-feeding cycle of people keeping facebook around because they have to. Eventually what ends up happening is an alternative comes along and people essentially forget about the platform that it just shuts down and collapses on itself. We're slowly inching towards that final outcome.
You end up with this self-feeding cycle of people keeping facebook around because they have to. Eventually what ends up happening is an alternative comes along and people essentially forget about the platform that it just shuts down and collapses on itself. We're slowly inching towards that final outcome.
Hard disagree. Facebook only has legitimacy if you personally agree it does. The minute you walk away, it loses all legitimacy. Same for LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. etc. There is no sense in which society at large using the product creates any degree of legitimacy for important functions like identity management. Precisely zero.
What I want is a social network you have to pay for. Make it $2.50/month, and make everything order by 'created date' (ie no magic sorting algorithm). Then, every quarter after the hosting bills are paid put whatever's left into some sort of shares that each member owns (sort of like a co-op).
E2EE, Federation, self-hosting, open source, etc. are all great, but they don't really address the real reason social network sites are so toxic - We have to entirely remove the advertisers from the equation.
People would be far less likely to post or share dumb stuff if being banned means there's a risk of losing your 'equity' in the platform.
E2EE, Federation, self-hosting, open source, etc. are all great, but they don't really address the real reason social network sites are so toxic - We have to entirely remove the advertisers from the equation.
People would be far less likely to post or share dumb stuff if being banned means there's a risk of losing your 'equity' in the platform.
> People would be far less likely to post or share dumb stuff if being banned means there's a risk of losing your 'equity' in the platform.
Isn’t this like HN already? Also who will define what is “dumb” if even the community can be eventually polluted and biased? Would a moderator or owner decide this?
Careful, money and greed can pollute anything. I tend to find that content that is not profit motivated are often the most truthful- ex: whistleblowers
Isn’t this like HN already? Also who will define what is “dumb” if even the community can be eventually polluted and biased? Would a moderator or owner decide this?
Careful, money and greed can pollute anything. I tend to find that content that is not profit motivated are often the most truthful- ex: whistleblowers
Why lump getting rid of the algorithm in with the other stuff? I don't use facebook but I use Youtube which also has a much ballyhooed algorithm. I've tried skipping their homepage (and thus skipping the algorithm) and just going to the list of videos posted by my subscribtions in what I presume is chronological order, and let's just say I usually find what I want more quickly the former way than the latter. I can only imagine it would be the same with a social network.
It turns out that even for channels I subscribe to the percentage of stuff they post that I want to see is pretty damn low, even lower than the "hit rate" of the algorithm which also isn't great. Now imagine a social network where you connect with people for reasons other than that you think you'd like what they post (you met them IRL and they asked you to add them, you want to talk, etc). An algorithm of some sort would be absolutely mandatory.
It turns out that even for channels I subscribe to the percentage of stuff they post that I want to see is pretty damn low, even lower than the "hit rate" of the algorithm which also isn't great. Now imagine a social network where you connect with people for reasons other than that you think you'd like what they post (you met them IRL and they asked you to add them, you want to talk, etc). An algorithm of some sort would be absolutely mandatory.
Being able to choose your algorithm, or even being able to replace it with one of your own or a 3rd party would be a welcome innovation here. I can see this happening on Mastodon, but not for ad revenue driven social networks.
This is effectively social.network. It’s powered by a decentralized autonomous organization called the Social DAO which is where username registration, governance, and economic incentives are coded. The goal is to change from an ad driven model to one that creates a better society for future generations.
I’ve become throughly convinced that the only way to dethrone Facebook is by creating the Next Big Thing and being crazy (and well-funded) enough to reject any acquisitions on the way up. “Delete your Facebook” social movements are doomed from the start.
Social trends seem to come in waves, and people get bored quickly. I wouldn’t be surprised if the world tires of today’s brand of social media in a decade or two. The Facebook Killer will thus be something completely different, not merely a better or more ethical version of contemporary social media.
Or maybe I’m just being too optimistic.
Social trends seem to come in waves, and people get bored quickly. I wouldn’t be surprised if the world tires of today’s brand of social media in a decade or two. The Facebook Killer will thus be something completely different, not merely a better or more ethical version of contemporary social media.
Or maybe I’m just being too optimistic.
I haven't used Facebook in almost a decade and I haven't missed it for a second. I sometimes ask friends and family why they use it and the answer is always either "I don't know" or "to keep track of friends and family" (AKA: a glorified contact list). Many of them talk about getting rid of it, but few ever follow through.
People love to speculate about "Facebook Killers", but what is there to even kill? Facebook doesn't offer people a useful service. It's just familiar and ubiquitous, so it exists in perpetuity.
> The Facebook Killer will thus be something completely different, not merely a better or more ethical version of contemporary social media.
Then it's not a "Facebook Killer", is it? It would just be another social media platform added to the pile. Just another Twitter, Snapchat, TicTok, etc.
People love to speculate about "Facebook Killers", but what is there to even kill? Facebook doesn't offer people a useful service. It's just familiar and ubiquitous, so it exists in perpetuity.
> The Facebook Killer will thus be something completely different, not merely a better or more ethical version of contemporary social media.
Then it's not a "Facebook Killer", is it? It would just be another social media platform added to the pile. Just another Twitter, Snapchat, TicTok, etc.
I had in mind more of a societal shift that makes FB/IG/etc. deeply uncool. Maybe living a super secretive life, never sharing anything, becomes the counterculture of the 2040s.
I just can’t imagine young people (main drivers of social media) are going to be happy with circa 2005 social media forever.
I just can’t imagine young people (main drivers of social media) are going to be happy with circa 2005 social media forever.
As I understand, young people already aren't happy with Facebook. FB's heavy users seem to be primarily millennials, gen X, and boomers.
TikTok is actually a great example of this, and it already exists! “But I don’t like TikTok, therefore it’s not a Facebook replacement!” you may be tempted to retort with, but the parent comment said it exactly— it’s something completely different.
If I were an angel I'd be piling money into personal servers and open sourced self hosted software following the "commoditize the complement" strategy.
People want crazy profits for their crazy funding. I think a more viable solution is legislation to force data to be open. It’s a complex thing to do however.
I would love in some alternate timeline for someone to create a website called deletefacebook.com or something similar that allows people to create a profile and make posts about why they don't use facebook that becomes so large it replaces facebook itself. (obviously using facebook in the domain is ripe for getting it taken down, but you get the idea)
Sounds like the beginning of a JL Borges story.
Probably so. The part of the population that reacts in any way to "delete your account" is probably 0.25% - FB knows that, too. Fine if every other month a #deletefb campaign comes around, the MAU is a harder fact.
The next big thing must flush you with probably an order or so more dopamine - maybe some free artificial/AR world with hundreds of new cool friends who aren't real but make you feel better. That would be so 2020s!
The next big thing must flush you with probably an order or so more dopamine - maybe some free artificial/AR world with hundreds of new cool friends who aren't real but make you feel better. That would be so 2020s!
Snapchat and TikTok both did exactly that.
They're fundamentally different, though. Tiktok is much more viable as a read-only, addictive content thing; but I never added people I knew on there during my month-long soujourn to discover what it was all about, nor did I feel any need to comment.
I don't see how any of the problems with facebook are due to any specific aspect of how they operate. It's the nature of any social network. Is there actually less garbage on Insta or Twitter or YouTube? The problem we people feeling compelled to post nonsense, to obsess over status, to be anxious about social inclusion and the free flow of disinformation. Happens everywhere.
How do you define the "nature of a social network?" Is it simply a place where one can connect digitally through a persistent profile? The social networks today are much more than that and heavily rely on algorithms to broadcast information. I think that is the main difference. We can have a social network that is much more static and probably less addicting, attractive, filled with ads, etc, if you skip the algorithmic feed. It may decrease the negative points you called out.
Hackernews is also a kind of social network.
Because fb was all of those things? If people were more honest with themselves about what fb does for them and a healthy alternative like WhatsApp comes out that appeals to Americans, we'll be on our way. The Next Big Thing is never planned, it just happens.
They tried. It was called gab.ai but it was deplatformed on mobile for wrongthink.
I've gained too much from different Facebook groups (when living abroad for example) and get too much value from important social connections (seeing friend's photos of their kids, for example, or chatting with my one uncle who only uses Messenger) to just ditch Facebook. I don't "use" it very much, but deleting it all together would have a big negative impact on me and I fail to see I what way I would gain.
Anyone who would only delete Facebook for personal gain fits right in with the Facebook ethos, and therefore should not delete Facebook.
Anyone who would do something only for personal gain would make a pretty sweet market theory...
Reminds me of this College Humour video - If People Left Parties Like They Leave Facebook
https://youtu.be/mGcHNnI2mh4
https://youtu.be/mGcHNnI2mh4
hahahah that was great, never saw that
I miss zack
I've also deactivated FB and Instagram about 2 weeks ago. I kept telling myself I was in control, but the truth is that I wasn't, somehow my brain was craving that infinite scrolling of pure trash. I feel like I've regained control over my life and I am much more productive now. As if they had managed to get me hooked and sell days of my life away for a few cents here and there. I blame myself
I was totally indifferent when I deleted Facebook. Maybe for a week after I would catch myself subconsciously opening a new tab and typing `fb.com` when I was bored before realizing what I was doing.
I held out on deleting Instagram for literal years until about 2 months ago. I finally got fed up when they overhauled the UI to focus on selling cheap and crappy goods. I always thought it provided a lot of benefit to my life because it was fun to share pictures. Turns out I didn't even care when I deleted it lol.
I think about deleting Twitter too, but it's just so darn useful for breaking news. And I could never get rid of Reddit. It is certainly an echo chamber but unless something bad happens it's basically the best website to find other hobbyists and even ask technical questions.
I held out on deleting Instagram for literal years until about 2 months ago. I finally got fed up when they overhauled the UI to focus on selling cheap and crappy goods. I always thought it provided a lot of benefit to my life because it was fun to share pictures. Turns out I didn't even care when I deleted it lol.
I think about deleting Twitter too, but it's just so darn useful for breaking news. And I could never get rid of Reddit. It is certainly an echo chamber but unless something bad happens it's basically the best website to find other hobbyists and even ask technical questions.
A bit offtopic but You know what?
1. I am not using whatsapp and recently I stumbled upon an iOS app that asked for a phone number to register and then tried to send OTP through whatsapp. SMS was a fallback option there which showed afterwards and was not active for 5 minutes because of the “timeout” between otp requests )))
2.A bottle of water advertised some lottery and had a QR code which was a FB link leading to a page that showed me a vague message about FB messenger which I don’t have.
It turns out that some people/companies nowadays assume FB and affiliated/owned companies to be a kinda standard for communication.
Boys and girls, write down and remember a simple rule: none of the commercial organizations will provide means of communication (apps, public APIs and SDKs) as standards unless those aforementioned means fit their business model.
Real standards belong either to public domain or to established non-commercial foundations with clear and transparent governance, leadership and policies.
Back on topic. I remember FB as a site that united students and alumni of major universities. This was probably the only period of fun in facebook history.
I remember VK.com being a Russian facebook clone with similar initial posture and user base which was also fun until its users started to go to jail for political reasons.
I would argue that this fate is waiting any “social” “network” after some point in their evolution.
A Cozy platform for chitchats and pic sharing gains more and more users, attention and money and transforms to a monster that starts eating its children and encourages all the deadly sins.
If you know an example of a social media that managed to escape this fate I will be happy to stand corrected.
1. I am not using whatsapp and recently I stumbled upon an iOS app that asked for a phone number to register and then tried to send OTP through whatsapp. SMS was a fallback option there which showed afterwards and was not active for 5 minutes because of the “timeout” between otp requests )))
2.A bottle of water advertised some lottery and had a QR code which was a FB link leading to a page that showed me a vague message about FB messenger which I don’t have.
It turns out that some people/companies nowadays assume FB and affiliated/owned companies to be a kinda standard for communication.
Boys and girls, write down and remember a simple rule: none of the commercial organizations will provide means of communication (apps, public APIs and SDKs) as standards unless those aforementioned means fit their business model.
Real standards belong either to public domain or to established non-commercial foundations with clear and transparent governance, leadership and policies.
Back on topic. I remember FB as a site that united students and alumni of major universities. This was probably the only period of fun in facebook history.
I remember VK.com being a Russian facebook clone with similar initial posture and user base which was also fun until its users started to go to jail for political reasons.
I would argue that this fate is waiting any “social” “network” after some point in their evolution.
A Cozy platform for chitchats and pic sharing gains more and more users, attention and money and transforms to a monster that starts eating its children and encourages all the deadly sins.
If you know an example of a social media that managed to escape this fate I will be happy to stand corrected.
I think the universe of topic-driven forums is the best I've seen so far.
What eventually wrecks any of the "meet friends/family/strangers and chat loosely" MySpace/Facebook/Google+/etc. networks toxic is that they're "unbounded" to serve their business model. They want to show 50% quarter-over-quarter active-user growth, and when that caps out, they need to squeeze the user bases for ever more interaction and engagement. Quality is not on the radar. So they're incentivized first to load the site with bots, desperate virality and recruitment efforts, and low-quality content, and later more and more obnoxious algorithms and dark-pattern design.
A topic-driven forum tends to have different motivations. The definition of success is to be a compelling community and content for a specific, and typically finite, audience. You're not going to growth-hack Hacker News or Deskthority in quite the same toxic way as Facebook does.
A small, but tighter-knit community often can be self-funded via subscriptions or donations, and if you go ad supported, there's a potential for a high-quality non-programmatic-nightmare ad experience, based on direct relations with advertisers directly relevant to the site theme and audience.
There's also granularity and control created by it not being a single all-purpose systen. Each new community is an opt-in choice rather than an algorithmic imposition, and you can punt the toxic ones without having to delete them all.
What eventually wrecks any of the "meet friends/family/strangers and chat loosely" MySpace/Facebook/Google+/etc. networks toxic is that they're "unbounded" to serve their business model. They want to show 50% quarter-over-quarter active-user growth, and when that caps out, they need to squeeze the user bases for ever more interaction and engagement. Quality is not on the radar. So they're incentivized first to load the site with bots, desperate virality and recruitment efforts, and low-quality content, and later more and more obnoxious algorithms and dark-pattern design.
A topic-driven forum tends to have different motivations. The definition of success is to be a compelling community and content for a specific, and typically finite, audience. You're not going to growth-hack Hacker News or Deskthority in quite the same toxic way as Facebook does.
A small, but tighter-knit community often can be self-funded via subscriptions or donations, and if you go ad supported, there's a potential for a high-quality non-programmatic-nightmare ad experience, based on direct relations with advertisers directly relevant to the site theme and audience.
There's also granularity and control created by it not being a single all-purpose systen. Each new community is an opt-in choice rather than an algorithmic imposition, and you can punt the toxic ones without having to delete them all.
> If you know an example of a social media that managed to escape this fate I will be happy to stand corrected.
Mastodon has a growing active community, is completely open source, federated, and community driven.
Mastodon has a growing active community, is completely open source, federated, and community driven.
I'm a year and a half in on the removal of Facebook from my life. Deleted the account and didn't look back. Has not had any impact on my social or professional life. I'd recommend doing the same.
I am currenlty well on my way in the process of uncondition myself from using Instagram, and I haven't touched WA in months.
I am currenlty well on my way in the process of uncondition myself from using Instagram, and I haven't touched WA in months.
Count me as another data point. I deleted my Facebook and Twitter accounts, and it has not affected my social or professional life in any noticeable way. I was worried I would lose access to my Oculus purchases, but I did not.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was reading my ads profile summary in Facebook settings. It claimed I was in “Established Adult Family Life with Children” or something similar. This was revolting. I was disturbed that Facebook seemed to know I was expecting a baby. I realized that Facebook was extracting far more value than it was giving, so I deleted my account.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was reading my ads profile summary in Facebook settings. It claimed I was in “Established Adult Family Life with Children” or something similar. This was revolting. I was disturbed that Facebook seemed to know I was expecting a baby. I realized that Facebook was extracting far more value than it was giving, so I deleted my account.
I was genuinly sad when Facebook bought Oculus as I knew they would never be able to resist the temptation to add all kinds of data harvesting to it.
And so I have not yet bought my self a VR set. Thankfully Valve stepped up last year.
And so I have not yet bought my self a VR set. Thankfully Valve stepped up last year.
I clicked on "Interest Categories" deep in ad settings and FB is reporting an error. Is there another way to get at its assessment of me?
I actually had the opposite experience: my profile was so inaccurate. It said I had kids when I don't, for example.
I deleted it 8 years ago when it first became obvious what was going to happen. Have never missed it for a second and I feel a bit sorry for people who think they can't do the same.
Serious question: What happened?
I was a FB member for a few years and quit mostly because I wasn't actually interested in what anyone was up to. As far I could tell, FB worked perfectly fine. My breaking point was realizing that my friends and family aren't that interesting.
I was a FB member for a few years and quit mostly because I wasn't actually interested in what anyone was up to. As far I could tell, FB worked perfectly fine. My breaking point was realizing that my friends and family aren't that interesting.
I'm a social networks veteran - from Friendster and early very Flickr on. By 2012 it was pretty obvious to most people working in tech that Facebook was heading in a bad direction with scant regard for users' rights or privacy. Looking back now, it was all pretty benign compared to what it has become, but there were enough indicators like the constantly changing privacy UI which, with every tweak, made it harder to protect your privacy. Add in the fact that the "Like" button started appearing on sites external to Facebook so that they could track your browsing outside of their platform and that was enough for me. At that point it is spyware.
I guess you just never get invited to stuff or have birthday wishes sent your way lol
The only reason I'm on FB is my past time: dancing tango.
It is the platform that social group has settled on, somehow, worldwide, for advertising & organizing events and, most importantly, communicating last minute changes to those/after parties, etc.
If you are a tango dancer and not on FB you must communicate with people who are, constantly, to not miss stuff. It's not practical.
That being said: I never look at my stream. I mostly use messenger and post in groups, when looking for flat-/car sharing for tango events.
It is the platform that social group has settled on, somehow, worldwide, for advertising & organizing events and, most importantly, communicating last minute changes to those/after parties, etc.
If you are a tango dancer and not on FB you must communicate with people who are, constantly, to not miss stuff. It's not practical.
That being said: I never look at my stream. I mostly use messenger and post in groups, when looking for flat-/car sharing for tango events.
I deleted facebook in 2015 and have not regretted it one bit since. I also deleted Instagram in 2018 and have not regretted that either. I feel like I am not missing out on anything of note and really glad I dodged all the election misinformation that FB and co. were pushing during the past election year. Not having toxic ideas being force-fed to you via social media can do wonders for your mental and physical well being.
I actually like Facebook. It used to be a fantastic place to hang out online and be open from the comfort of my home, without having to drive somewhere, or be in the public sphere. I'm also somewhat of an oddity because my friend list never went above dunbar's number. Then when when the tide turned against Facebook with events like Cambridge Analytica, it turned into a ghost town. Everyone I know just stopped using it, and stopped sharing, because no one trusted it anymore. So if you still think of quitting Facebook as a choice, chances are you're friends with too many people. How could people here honestly suspect their friends of being bots, unless they needed the self-esteem boost of having 5,000 "friends"? Fact is, the platform was ruined by too many people using it for the wrong reasons and that's what the app makers and the bad policies exploited. The Facebook that friend judicious people like me had had is gone and I don't think there's going to be anything to replace it.
You know what is scummier than Facebook? Posting a blogpost of your new social network startup guised as a public service announcement.
I see that the OP is using spacehey (which I've never heard of and seems to be slow for some reason), but how can anyone be sure that it won't be overrun by bots and unsavory characters?
Hi, I use SpaceHey because my friend An made it as a throwback to 2005-2008 MySpace and it is taking off like no other. It is slow right now because he's getting an influx of something like 5k users a day from the viralness of it.
How will it not be overrun by bots and unsavory characters? We don't know. It's not a corporation backed platform. It's literally an 18 year old developer who pined for a simpler time that he unfortunately only got to experience vicariously through those who weren't a toddler as he was.
But I've made it my non-business related social media platform and support him and it.
How will it not be overrun by bots and unsavory characters? We don't know. It's not a corporation backed platform. It's literally an 18 year old developer who pined for a simpler time that he unfortunately only got to experience vicariously through those who weren't a toddler as he was.
But I've made it my non-business related social media platform and support him and it.
How will SpaceHey support itself?
There's a shop you can buy things to support it. I also plan to host the social network on my cloud hosting platform and if I have to help foot the bill, I will.
Thanks – just supported SpaceHey.
The best thing I ever did on Facebook was unfollow everyone, it allows me to keep in touch at my leisure, without that dopamine hit from refreshing the feed and seeing nonsense.
Alternative : For those who are too much invested and tied into FB ecosystem with IG, Facebook Groups, Fan Page etc --> just limit your use of FB, consider deleting the app or blocking the website so you are limited to check it on only one platform and it will also be a reminder to limit social media.
I've never had a FB account, never thought I missed anything. But, there's a Buy-Nothing group I want to join, and they are on FB. I admire the concept of Buy-Nothing, but I abhor FB and am not going to make an account to join Buy-Nothing. Even if I were to start a new Buy-Nothing group, FB provides the most reach because it's pervasive and probably easiest to use, and one can be tagged with one's location. Mailing lists don't thread well, GoogleGroup is a dumpster fire. What other tools can I use to build a like-minded community for good?
Reddit.
I have to admit, in times of Corona, without parties and concerts, the value of Facebook has sunken drastically.
My main activity was to stay up to date on events. What's happening, who goes where, etc.
My main activity was to stay up to date on events. What's happening, who goes where, etc.
>I have to admit, in times of Corona, without parties and concerts, the value of Facebook has sunken drastically
Huh? For many people it's exactly the opposite. The value of Facebook was in casual chat, posting, etc, to connect with friends and random followers in the age of Corona.
Huh? For many people it's exactly the opposite. The value of Facebook was in casual chat, posting, etc, to connect with friends and random followers in the age of Corona.
They specifically say "My main activity was to stay up to date on events". Which seems to be a significant portion of FB users - Events seem to be/have been its most important feature for a lot of people. As someone who has never once used that feature, that was a surprising thing to learn for me.
I don't know, but I do these things mostly via other social media platforms.
My friends use WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Twitter, Instagram etc.
My friends use WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Twitter, Instagram etc.
Why do you care what other people are doing? If it's important they'll tell you about it.
I just read Aaron Parecki's "How to leave Facebook" post yesterday and I think his way is much better. If you want to quit facebook don't forget to check it here first: https://aaronparecki.com/2020/06/14/14/how-to-leave-facebook
Facebook is a once-promising neighborhood of a bustling city that became a bad neighborhood.
Your two options are becoming bad yourself or packing up.
I've been off of Facebook for 6+ years now, and my life has barely been affected. Occasionally one of the kids will be part of a school group only communicates on FB (WHY THO?) and I'll have to request things be mailed to me.
The juice just isn't worth the squeeze to me. (Turns out I was the one being squeezed anyway.)
The juice just isn't worth the squeeze to me. (Turns out I was the one being squeezed anyway.)
Delete the Facebook and Instagram apps off your phone along with Messenger and it becomes much easier to not use them out of habit.
I deleted the Instagram app from my phone a while back, but still was stuck browsing on the web version.
More recently, I've had issues logging in via mobile browser so that's helped as another blocker.
More recently, I've had issues logging in via mobile browser so that's helped as another blocker.
Am I the only one who only used/uses IRC?
Back in '92 I started using IRC as my primary "group chat/social platform", and ICQ for IM's among closer friends. I stayed on IRC for a very long time, and grew-older with the same circle. It was nice. It was personal. I know people in that group that got married.
Time passed, people moved on; had families, etc. I've tried a few other platforms like facebook, but they all seemed so fake, shallow, and "designed for AOL'ers" that was a recipe for crap. So I never stuck around.
G+ arrived and had the right feel, but it never grew legs.
Facebook has two things going for it. (1) it's an echo chamber (2) the "OMG I can communicate with somebody over the internet" dopamine spike
Well I got #2 too, but I was 12 years old on a C64 connecting to BBS's. So I out-grew it. Why can't all these people outgrow this?
Time passed, people moved on; had families, etc. I've tried a few other platforms like facebook, but they all seemed so fake, shallow, and "designed for AOL'ers" that was a recipe for crap. So I never stuck around.
G+ arrived and had the right feel, but it never grew legs.
Facebook has two things going for it. (1) it's an echo chamber (2) the "OMG I can communicate with somebody over the internet" dopamine spike
Well I got #2 too, but I was 12 years old on a C64 connecting to BBS's. So I out-grew it. Why can't all these people outgrow this?
I continue to use IRC with friends I've known for 20+ years. Some of my IRC groups have migrated to Discord or Slack, but IRC is still on in the background.
You've touched on a fundamental point that G+ was trying to get across with "circles." I'm a member of probably 20 different groups across various messaging platforms. These are tight little communities with a lot of trust. It isn't that we all agree politically or anything, but we trust each other to be kind, consistent, and not too spammy. Anyway, I think small groups in WhatsApp, Discord, Slack, IRC, etc.. are the present and future of good social interactions.
You've touched on a fundamental point that G+ was trying to get across with "circles." I'm a member of probably 20 different groups across various messaging platforms. These are tight little communities with a lot of trust. It isn't that we all agree politically or anything, but we trust each other to be kind, consistent, and not too spammy. Anyway, I think small groups in WhatsApp, Discord, Slack, IRC, etc.. are the present and future of good social interactions.
I use a tad bit of IRC, but I prefer Signal messenger and Discord for gaming specifically. Signal is encrypted, allows videos, audio messages, emoji reactions, has search functionality, it's just a great app IMO.
My own purely anecdotal findings:
1. I quit fb many years ago. In my case, using it made me anxious so getting back on it would have been the challenge instead. The main drawback is that you lose out on some of the organic meetings that strengthen relationships. It's not that people forget about you, but that by simple friction you will not participate in certain interactions. This will be generational as the youngest users will be on another service and older users will have networks that aren't as influenced by fb. Note that fb is still extremely popular even among the <30 crowd in Europe.
2. I eventually caved in and installed fb messenger without linking it to my account, which I use for certain group chats. I don't regret this usage at all, as it's only intentional communications and there is none of the browsing aspect that makes fb notorious. The other advantage is that I no longer have to explain to new people why I'm not on fb, I just add them to messenger. Many years ago, people would actually be insulted if I told them that as they would interpret it as me not wanting to connect with them further. This was particularly true in places outside of Europe and the US where fb pretty much was the internet for people.
3. I had a negative impression of Instagram from the get go. I use it to look at the work of artists and photographers, but exclusively on the laptop. In this specific use case, it's pretty great. The purely social or cultural aspect of it (by that I mean the culture and behavior that is a consequence of the app itself) is absolute cancer in my opinion. Almost like a mental illness and conformity factory unless you already have high social status or some instagrammable quality, in which case you will get much out of it I suppose.
4. Of course, it's one of the oldest traditions in the world for older generations to completely misunderstand the young. I do not envy people growing up today however. The fear of being filmed doing dumb stuff or the constant pressure is no joke.
1. I quit fb many years ago. In my case, using it made me anxious so getting back on it would have been the challenge instead. The main drawback is that you lose out on some of the organic meetings that strengthen relationships. It's not that people forget about you, but that by simple friction you will not participate in certain interactions. This will be generational as the youngest users will be on another service and older users will have networks that aren't as influenced by fb. Note that fb is still extremely popular even among the <30 crowd in Europe.
2. I eventually caved in and installed fb messenger without linking it to my account, which I use for certain group chats. I don't regret this usage at all, as it's only intentional communications and there is none of the browsing aspect that makes fb notorious. The other advantage is that I no longer have to explain to new people why I'm not on fb, I just add them to messenger. Many years ago, people would actually be insulted if I told them that as they would interpret it as me not wanting to connect with them further. This was particularly true in places outside of Europe and the US where fb pretty much was the internet for people.
3. I had a negative impression of Instagram from the get go. I use it to look at the work of artists and photographers, but exclusively on the laptop. In this specific use case, it's pretty great. The purely social or cultural aspect of it (by that I mean the culture and behavior that is a consequence of the app itself) is absolute cancer in my opinion. Almost like a mental illness and conformity factory unless you already have high social status or some instagrammable quality, in which case you will get much out of it I suppose.
4. Of course, it's one of the oldest traditions in the world for older generations to completely misunderstand the young. I do not envy people growing up today however. The fear of being filmed doing dumb stuff or the constant pressure is no joke.
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It's odd to me that people make such a big deal about Facebook, relative to other platforms. When I log on to Facebook I see some old friends having pretty banal conversations. It's not very compelling and it's definitely not threatening.
Twitter, on the other hand, is both compelling and threatening. It draws me in and sucks up far too much of my time. And when I've waded into controversial waters I've been met with hordes of strangers calling me names, making fun of my appearance, and even in one case emailing my employer in an effort to materially harm me for disagreeing on the internet.
Nothing like that has ever happened to me on Facebook.
Between Facebook and Twitter I find the latter both far more threatening and, because it's also actually compelling, far more difficult to leave.
Facebook is a zero by comparison.
Twitter, on the other hand, is both compelling and threatening. It draws me in and sucks up far too much of my time. And when I've waded into controversial waters I've been met with hordes of strangers calling me names, making fun of my appearance, and even in one case emailing my employer in an effort to materially harm me for disagreeing on the internet.
Nothing like that has ever happened to me on Facebook.
Between Facebook and Twitter I find the latter both far more threatening and, because it's also actually compelling, far more difficult to leave.
Facebook is a zero by comparison.
I have deleted my facebook account about like 3 years ago, I still have a fake account around tho with a fake name, fake image, fake background etc.
Just to be able to read and post in local groups to my community. I use a special browser for it with facebook container installed.
Just to be able to read and post in local groups to my community. I use a special browser for it with facebook container installed.
When you have to sanitize your environment like your are in a Level 4 Biohazard research facility, then maybe the thing you are trying to use just isn't worth it.
Deleted Facebook in 2010 when I graduated college. Deleted Instagram in 2017 but had it for a year recently while I was nomadic. I only use Facetime, Messages and the Phone app now.
I’m only missing superficial connection as elegantly detailed in the Digital Minimalism book.
I’m only missing superficial connection as elegantly detailed in the Digital Minimalism book.
People tend to just blindly follow what the news reports to the extent that this is now very relevant for Facebook: http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html
Ha, I love it. I have two opinions that fall into that category. One is that people shouldn't own pets. Least of all sapient creatures like dogs. I'd wager that will become a common point of view a century or two after I'm gone.
The other one (relevant to this thread) is that Facebook is a great product and people only hate it now because it's a such a horrendously efficient mirror of the ugliness of humanity.
The other one (relevant to this thread) is that Facebook is a great product and people only hate it now because it's a such a horrendously efficient mirror of the ugliness of humanity.
> One is that people shouldn't own pets. Least of all sapient creatures like dogs. I'd wager that will become a common point of view a century or two after I'm gone.
Considering that cats 1) have been human companions since the ancient Egyptian days, when the penalty of killing a cat was death, 2) ONLY became human companions of their own volition after their utility in eradicating mice and rats was recognized (note that until a few decades ago, pets were kept outdoors most of the time)... I really, REALLY doubt this prediction tremendously LOL.
Also, you have entirely obviously never had a cat. (I've had both dogs and cats. Cats are more interesting. Dogs are like permanent 3 year old boys.)
Considering that cats 1) have been human companions since the ancient Egyptian days, when the penalty of killing a cat was death, 2) ONLY became human companions of their own volition after their utility in eradicating mice and rats was recognized (note that until a few decades ago, pets were kept outdoors most of the time)... I really, REALLY doubt this prediction tremendously LOL.
Also, you have entirely obviously never had a cat. (I've had both dogs and cats. Cats are more interesting. Dogs are like permanent 3 year old boys.)
Slavery was normal in egypt too. We're only like 150 years past that being normal. Dogs were useful in ancient times as well. They warned of predators and could protect cattle. Not really relevant anymore. Most modern pets are genetically engineered for centuries to be cute and docile and completely dependent on humans.
Well, that's also where you're simply wrong, at least as far as cats are concerned:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/06/cats-are-an-extreme-....
10,000 years of interactions with cats, and they're just as wild, genetically, as their wild counterparts. Interesting?
https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/06/cats-are-an-extreme-....
10,000 years of interactions with cats, and they're just as wild, genetically, as their wild counterparts. Interesting?
I suspect most people <30 use FB for family stuff only and don't actually "hang out" there. But they do spend time on IG, so FB has their bases covered.
If you want to get out of the FB world, you need to delete FB and IG.
If you want to get out of the FB world, you need to delete FB and IG.
AND WhatsApp
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Second that, and I'd like to add google too with the following alternatives:
1. search: duckduckgo
2. email: proton
I know google is more pervasive in services, these two can be a good start.
I know google is more pervasive in services, these two can be a good start.
Yup, Email is the only thing I haven't migrated off Google yet, that one is tougher so far.
But also instead of Chrome use Brave or Edge, both built on Chromium and are essentially Chrome, but without Google's spyware bloat.
But also instead of Chrome use Brave or Edge, both built on Chromium and are essentially Chrome, but without Google's spyware bloat.
Vivaldi (also Chromium) is another option. I've used Brave for a while but I got annoyed by them modifying my settings through user experiments without any form of opt in.
I delete facebook years ago, and just delete instagram for good on 12/31. Replacing every single minute I wasted on instgram with reading history. Looking forward to 2021.
One of the biggest (but dumbest) things is I signed up for Spotify with Facebook...and need it to log in.
I'm too lazy to like transfer all my playlists and liked songs to a new account.
I'm too lazy to like transfer all my playlists and liked songs to a new account.
You wouldn't have to transfer to a new account, you'd just have to create the account and link it, then remove the Facebook connection.[1]
[1] https://community.spotify.com/t5/Spotify-Answers/I-want-to-d...
[1] https://community.spotify.com/t5/Spotify-Answers/I-want-to-d...
I don't remember how but I was able to remove FB from Spotify a few years ago. Maybe had to set a password and/or contact support.
Apologizes if you are having trouble getting to the site, An has been receiving a massive influx of users over the past few days so it can be slow at times.
https://github.com/weskerfoot/DeleteFB
for some handy automation of this (previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19963599)
for some handy automation of this (previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19963599)
I'm 30 and my social circle as well as myself regularly use FB, Instagram, and FB Messenger.
FB main platform I'll use for events and, most importantly, Groups. I have been overall quite impressed with the communities in the FB Groups (of course some are better than others).
For example I've been a huge fan of the Streets of Rage series; SOR4 came out last year, 25 years after the previous release. The Streets of Rage 4 facebook group has been an absolute godsend. Very active community, tons of expert players posting videos, very easy to find people to play with, funny memes, the works. The SOR4 discord is hit and miss and reddit is too much of a message board and isn't so active. FB Group is light years ahead of any other community for this game that I've found.
I've also joined groups for The Office, Futurama, etc (all of have dozens of different groups, each tailored slightly differently). I laugh at anyone who says all they see on their feed is people posting bullshit, vitriol, and misinformation. That is a YOU problem, not a FB problem. My feed is filled with relevant updates from friends, as well as a constant stream of The Office/Futurama/Streets of Rage 4. Exactly how I want it.
FB main platform I'll use for events and, most importantly, Groups. I have been overall quite impressed with the communities in the FB Groups (of course some are better than others).
For example I've been a huge fan of the Streets of Rage series; SOR4 came out last year, 25 years after the previous release. The Streets of Rage 4 facebook group has been an absolute godsend. Very active community, tons of expert players posting videos, very easy to find people to play with, funny memes, the works. The SOR4 discord is hit and miss and reddit is too much of a message board and isn't so active. FB Group is light years ahead of any other community for this game that I've found.
I've also joined groups for The Office, Futurama, etc (all of have dozens of different groups, each tailored slightly differently). I laugh at anyone who says all they see on their feed is people posting bullshit, vitriol, and misinformation. That is a YOU problem, not a FB problem. My feed is filled with relevant updates from friends, as well as a constant stream of The Office/Futurama/Streets of Rage 4. Exactly how I want it.
I deleted the facebook app from my phone years ago (use the mobile/desktop website instead), but don't want to delete my facebook account altogether. I still actively use it to share ideas, opinions with my friends, talking to them, getting updates of their lives, talking on interesting groups and so on.
Just checked, Facebook is still there :(
14 years ago everyone wanted to move off MySpace to Facebook. We're coming around full circle.
I deleted mine several years ago, but was only using it once every few months for a few years before that. There wasn't anything there of value anymore for me. If I want to check up on someone, I call/text and have even been drug into a snapchat group.
Many times you want to connect to someone but don't know anything but their name and who they're friends with. For example, my dad (who is 75 and whose wife died this past year) is engaging with many people on FB now, and it seems good for him
Yeah I can see how there could be some value for some folks.
How does everyone else who deleted FB deal with the "old friends" problem? I don't have email or phone numbers for dozens of old friends from HS and University, it'd be fun to ping them with this or that once in a while.
I struggle with the same thing. If we were close enough in the past I'm much less shy now of asking for a phone number/email.
If we're just passive where I'd love to see an update about life stages and progression... fb it is. Really wish the world was but a series of email mailing lists.
If we're just passive where I'd love to see an update about life stages and progression... fb it is. Really wish the world was but a series of email mailing lists.
My form of dealing with that is by not having friends.
I deleted my Facebook account permanently about two years ago. I created a new one this Christmas for one very simple reason: I wanted to be able to use Messenger, because it's the only common denominator for my entire extended family.
Thankfully, it's completely possible to use only Messenger, but you need to jump through some hoops. Facebook will automatically enable your "normal" account, so you need to disable it (not delete it) to "keep" the Messenger functionality while closing your profile.
As for FB as a social network, I don't know. I'll echo the sentiment in the currently top voted comment here: nobody I know uses it that way anymore, except the oldest ones in my family. Looking at it cynically, I guess it makes sense that the generation that are the least resilient to online disinformation are also the last ones to jump ship.
Thankfully, it's completely possible to use only Messenger, but you need to jump through some hoops. Facebook will automatically enable your "normal" account, so you need to disable it (not delete it) to "keep" the Messenger functionality while closing your profile.
As for FB as a social network, I don't know. I'll echo the sentiment in the currently top voted comment here: nobody I know uses it that way anymore, except the oldest ones in my family. Looking at it cynically, I guess it makes sense that the generation that are the least resilient to online disinformation are also the last ones to jump ship.
If you want to keep the 'events' capability but remove your newsfeed then it's possible to write a bot that unsubscribes from all of your friends. This also works well for LinkedIn I find.
Most people I know have deactivated their account. I just use messenger.
I had been doing that for a few weeks now, but I don't agree with Facebook anymore and by passively using their products I am telling them that their actions are ok.
By deleting completely and going to alternatives, that's how we tell them it's not ok.
By deleting completely and going to alternatives, that's how we tell them it's not ok.
Did it 4 years ago. Saved a backup of my data, deactivated, and then completely deleted. Yes there will always be a reason to have facebook around, but 4 years on, missing out on all those little reasons people use to defend facebook didn't end up materializing in any meaningful inconvenience or obstacle to living without it.
Yup, exactly what I am doing. I posted that I am deleting my account in 30 days, and linked my SpaceHey profile for people to sign up there and friend request me if they want to stay connected on social media.
Got a backup being generated right now by Facebook of all my data, and will be permanently deleting it after that.
Got a backup being generated right now by Facebook of all my data, and will be permanently deleting it after that.
I used to do this, precisely because I feared losing my Facebook contacts. Messenger is very efficient & light, but once I realized how much I used other (although heavier) mssg apps instead, I saw no need for anything else. Mssg app for international family and friends, SMS for local, LinkedIn, Slack, Skype for work.
There are so many app alternatives out there (that are as well built technically) that you don’t need to rely on anything from Facebook's ecosystem anymore. Give it a try, no disappointments
There are so many app alternatives out there (that are as well built technically) that you don’t need to rely on anything from Facebook's ecosystem anymore. Give it a try, no disappointments
Yeah same, it's pretty nice that like Messenger app and their site Messenger.com exists to just totally avoid the feed and everything aspect of Facebook.
deleted mine many years ago, only thing I feel like im missing out on is marketplace. had a much easier time selling random stuff there vs all other alternatives, but good riddance
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For those who don’t have a Facebook account: Replace “delete” with “abstain”, and “Facebook” with “alcohol” or “smoking”. These articles will then make sense.
I've written a bot that picks up birthday notifications and automatically writes a "Happy Birthday" post. Saves me time and I never miss anyone.
* Not really.
* Not really.
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Down for me, Archive.today has a copy:
https://archive.vn/029SN
https://archive.vn/029SN
I deleted fb years ago but came back partially in order to keep up with my family. It's where everyone talks for better or worse and I'd rather keep in touch with my siblings and cousins than make a point. It bums me out but my relationships have improved a ton since I'm in all the group chats.
To manage the best I can, I purely use messenger.com and stay out of facebook.com. I keep in touch but I don't get caught up in the rest of the BS.
To manage the best I can, I purely use messenger.com and stay out of facebook.com. I keep in touch but I don't get caught up in the rest of the BS.
It's more than just making a point though. It's having a principled belief in something and standing by it. That's fine if you don't feel that way, but there are lots of us that feel very negatively towards facebook and its impact on society.
It's not about making a point, it's about not actively being part of the thing I see as a problem.
It's not about making a point, it's about not actively being part of the thing I see as a problem.
Careful, if you've bought any Facebook VR equipment recently it will stop working if you do this.
Deleting Facebook/Instagram/etc will give you your life back.
Also, Vero is a decent alternative if you can get your circle into it.
That's unfortunate. I do like the model Vero has created, though I would never be impacted by the sales model since I was just looking for a social network where I can keep in touch with a group of friends and family.
Unfortunately, I never been able to get people to try it.
Even so, the fidelity of access you have control over is brilliant. I can hide my content, open it up, hide it again...whenever I want and instantly.
Something to think about if anyone were to try to create a new platform.
Unfortunately, I never been able to get people to try it.
Even so, the fidelity of access you have control over is brilliant. I can hide my content, open it up, hide it again...whenever I want and instantly.
Something to think about if anyone were to try to create a new platform.
Good to know, thanks, that does sound good.
I deleted Facebook permanently in 2005. Never looked back!
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Kind of a tangent...
But, with all the people I know who don't have a Facebook at this point, I'm gonna just say I have zero confidence most of their users aren't bots. I would be surprised if FB had a billion real users at this point. It should literally be close to impossible to find folks without them in western countries, statistically, but it's not. It's becoming easier and more common... or folks just lie about not having facebook for some reason (which is plausible though very weird).
But, with all the people I know who don't have a Facebook at this point, I'm gonna just say I have zero confidence most of their users aren't bots. I would be surprised if FB had a billion real users at this point. It should literally be close to impossible to find folks without them in western countries, statistically, but it's not. It's becoming easier and more common... or folks just lie about not having facebook for some reason (which is plausible though very weird).
Maybe you're thinking of the Facebook dating app?
I would encourage people to delete Twitter first, and then (probably) Instagram. You can absolutely use FB productively. I have been using FB just to use specific nature and fitness realted groups. But Twitter is probably the most toxic mainstream social media and almost impossible to use without lowering yourself into the Twitter cesspool. At least I was not able to use Twitter productively.
It's not really "delete facebook because my friends are toxic" but "delete Facebook because the company Facebook, Inc is a truly evil company"
Facebook was very useful in connect with likeminded people, particularly on my hobbies, but Facebook scares me now. I'm 49. Posting the wrong meme could destroy my career and upend my life, and it's just not worth the risk. I've chosen to delete my Facebook account to limit my potential exposure to cancel culture. The privacy aspect never bothered me much because that ship left the harbor long ago, there's no going back to "privacy" online. Cancel culture, on the other hand, can come out of anywhere, any time, for any reason, and that scares me. For that reason alone, Facebook IMO is a very dangerous, unsafe place to be.