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I've recently deleted my Facebook account; it was no easy feat. If you don't know what Facebook is, essentially it's a way to be nosey with a plethora of people you know, half know, once knew, but mostly don't know. It plays on our natural curiosity & no doubt, boredom.

Firstly, I didn't have a bad Facebook experience, I deleted it because I became uncomfortable that Facebook is very self-serving, as a user you're there just to be moneterized in any way possible, or as I say, you're Facebook's money-bitch. Someone sends you a message, Facebook will email you to tell you, but oh no, won't show you it, you must log-in to see it, can't be missing those ads! There's a nice quote from Information Week which puts it well: "Facebook has all the social graces of a nose-picking, hyperactive six-year-old, standing at the threshold of your attention and chanting, "I know something, I know something, I know something, won't tell you what it is!"

There's been quite a few scandals recently involving Facebook. First putting your information on Google. More recently they've been forced to change their Beacon advertising to be opt-in rather than opt-out. Did you really want all your purchases at say, eBay displayed to all your supposed friends? "Stuart bought Big Girls Go Wild 4". Sounded like a good way to ruin a lot of Christmas & birthday surprises.

Update: Facebook's Beacon system appears to continue to track you even if you've turned it off. See here and here.

Then there's those terms & conditions, if you've ever bothered to read them:

By posting User Content to any part of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, on or in connection with the Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing.

You don't mind having anything, your photos etc. used in that way right?

Yet, we all happily give them just what they want, listing everything you like, it's an advertisers dream! Would you seriously put all that information on if it was a government agency? Thinking about it, there's something deeply childish about the whole thing, or what seems to make people act like children; writing lists of favourite things, their best friends, who's their bestest friend, you match so-and-so 98% I like beer you like beer too quiz, every part of your life's ephemera.

I also didn't like the idea of Microsoft taking a stake in the company, after-all, Microsoft aren't exactly above reproach with shady deals. It's not like they've been in the European Court or anything.

Then, maybe you'd not mind having your identity stolen, or screw up your future employment perhaps?

Information on your own website blog of course would be available for all, but then, at least you might think about what you put on it and not just imagine it's all safe in la la Facebook land, because you feel you have some false notion of control.

So, I left, as I didn't really have much a use for it, or use it much (other than doing a quiz when bored), the people on there (which wasn't many) I can just as well talk to in other ways, the internet being one social network, plus there's the phone/texts email, messengers; oh even a letter or a postcard, now there's a thing (not likely I know). Maybe we should make more an effort, instead of pretending that just because you can see someone's Facebook status, it constitutes a friendship and if you'd not talk to them without Facebook, what does that say? Just a thought.

Daily Californian - My friend Ryan Hallahan loves merkins. How do I know this? Because I've seen the collection. How would I know this if he hadn't locked me in his trunk that one time? Because he says so on the Facebook. It's funny how you learn more about your friends via semipublic virtual forum than you do via face to face communication. Wait, did I say "funny"? I meant "soul-crushingly sad."

Enough pontificating, and I'll get to the point: The leaving isn't as easy as you think. Facebook give you the option of disabling your account, but that's not deleting it, all your data will still be there. To have your account deleted, you must first delete everything you've ever done on Facebook, all those posts, messages, photos, everything. It's not so easy with say the wall, having to delete each one by one. After that you can disable your account and then email Facebook at info@facebook.com and ask them to delete it fully, if you happen to have left even one message, they'll email and say you still have user data and they can't help you until you've removed it. I had this problem several times. Ironically the reason they won't just delete your account for you is, they say, to protect the privacy of users. Really? I thought it was to make the whole idea of deleting your account as difficult as possible, which made me think they were even more dodgy than before.

Am I overreacting? Probably a smidge. I'm not the only one of course, here's my list to reinforce my world view (you know; when you Google "so and so is crap" to make yourself feel that you were right all along):


Steven Mansour - 2504 steps to closing your facebook account & Privacy Round-up including the amusing quote (don't take it too seriously): "People - including some of the smartest people I know - have stopped asking questions, not so much because they don't care, but because they don't want to have to reflect upon their perfect little friend-poking, facebook-app-adding, group-joining little sterile world."

The Independent - Facebook backlash over sale of personal data.

DannyMadScientist Video

Facebook is the end of humanity

Move-on to Facebook: We caught you red-handed.

and the more disturbing Album of the Day

Update: Facebook founder has had to make an apology.

Tags: facebook, leaving, privacy, how to delete facebook