What would it take to make you stop using Facebook and delete your account?

Forums › Social networks, social media and tools › What would it take to make you stop using Facebook and delete your account?

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#2492645 27-May-2020 10:59

elpenguino:

I've never signed up.

The whole thing seems really naff especially the way it encourages users to cherry pick happy perfect moments from their life to post.

The mental health effects of social media are a whole other question which is just as troubling in my opinion. Pretty sure studies have shown a timeline correlation of the rise of social media alongside the rise in mental health issues especially in the young. http://www.center4research.org/social-media-affects-mental-health/

Constant comparison with others "best self" is a recipe for increased unhappiness.

SaltyNZ

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2degrees

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#2492670 27-May-2020 11:31

Deleted it years ago already.

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These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

Rikkitic

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#2492686 27-May-2020 11:58

Geekzone is my social media. I never had any interest in Facebook, or even Twitter, for that matter. A few years ago I did briefly open a Facebook account just to see what it was about. I found no value there and deactivated it a short time later. It took me a long while to figure out how to completely delete it. I don't remember exactly what the problem was but they seemed to make it as difficult as possible.

Many of my friends are on Facebook, and for them, it is an essential tool for keeping in touch with family. They all know about my preferences so I get some stuff by email, but I know I miss out on a lot by not being on Facebook. The problem with it is that, like Trade Me, it has achieved critical mass and for a lot of people, nothing else can fill that space. To dump Facebook you need something else that is as widely used as Facebook. What keeps it going is the number of people who rely on it. It is a positive feedback loop. The more who use it, the more who need to be on it.

Having said all that, I still have no account, and no intention to acquire one. I also agree that Facebook is inherently evil, even if Zuckerberg is not (not saying he isn't, just pointing out that it doesn't matter).

In general, I think social media are probably a bad thing, and I don't know how they could be made a good thing. The problem is they give a very big megaphone to losers and crazies, and a barrel of fish to commercial interests. Something like Geekzone works because it has succeeded in building a critical mass of intelligent and educated users, and it is tightly moderated. I don't know how that can be scaled up.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

frankv

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#2492705 27-May-2020 12:29

I'm a daily FB user. I see it as a place to meet friends & family.

I do see the mostly right wing BS, but think I'm pretty much immune to it. (Am I right that it's mostly right wing, pro-Trump, nonsense? Or is it the circles I live in? Or maybe I just don't trigger so much on the left-wing nonsense?) Likewise the ads. Dunno about any effect on my mental health. But, on the basis of "All it takes is for good men to do nothing...", I feel somewhat of an obligation to point out the fact that the BS is in fact BS. My little tilt at the windmills.

It irritates the sh.t out of me that FB continually inserts scam ads (latest phones for $100, $139 milling machines) into people's feeds, and there's no apparent way to get the ads stopped, even though they're blatantly crooked. To me, this is FB reaping the benefits of illegal activity. I'll typically add a "Scam" comment to these as well.

Every now and then I question whether the pain is worth the benefit... so far it's acceptable. I guess in this consumer-bait driven world, every good thing will eventually descend to where it is of marginal value to the majority. e.g. TV, Sky, TradeMe, Stuff, NZ Herald.

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2492709 27-May-2020 12:33

frankv:

I do see the mostly right wing BS, but think I'm pretty much immune to it. (Am I right that it's mostly right wing, pro-Trump, nonsense? Or is it the circles I live in? Or maybe I just don't trigger so much on the left-wing nonsense?)

I see mostly left-wing BS. Anti-Trump nonsense.

antonknee

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#2492718 27-May-2020 12:42

SirHumphreyAppleby:

frankv:

I do see the mostly right wing BS, but think I'm pretty much immune to it. (Am I right that it's mostly right wing, pro-Trump, nonsense? Or is it the circles I live in? Or maybe I just don't trigger so much on the left-wing nonsense?)

I see mostly left-wing BS. Anti-Trump nonsense.

I think the answer to this will depend on your own political view. Where I see nonsense circulating on FB it's generally right-wing, but I think I'm inclined to say it's nonsense because I am of a leftist persuasion myself. Although I would say (opinion) the right tends to be more susceptible to conspiracy theories, or rather the two often go hand in hand.

The key exception to this is QAnon. That's definitely nonsense and definitely right-wing no matter your political persuasion. There was quite a good GZ thread on conspiracies actually.

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Senecio

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#2492723 27-May-2020 12:47

Government intervention.

I use Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family that I can't see in person because of distance. It serves that purpose for me better than any other platform available so I will continue to use it. I'm not naive, I understand people use it to spread misinformation and hatred but that stuff never infiltrates my feed as I don't go seeking. But its also not my place to police how the platform is used/abused. The government/s really need to grow a pair and start to hold Facebook (and other platforms) accountable for their actions or lack thereof.

afe66

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#2492725 27-May-2020 12:52

I closed mine years ago after getting bored and tired of multiple multiple pictures of people new babies. I know they are important to you but everybody thinks that. At the time I had no kids and it got boring.

Highflighing professional women with impressive careers suddenly read mid to late 30s and decided after all having a baby was vital. Strangely expected Male partners to continue working...

If I had suggested that that's what they would say when mid 30s when they were in early 20s they would have crucified me for being a sexist bastard..

I have since created a new account with a dead end email address (domain closed) to access various hobby groups. No friends. Access using VM ubuntu guest account.

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2492727 27-May-2020 12:53

antonknee:

The key exception to this is QAnon. That's definitely nonsense and definitely right-wing no matter your political persuasion. There was quite a good GZ thread on conspiracies actually.

Is that the group that thinks celebrities are dying at an increasing rate because they can't sacrifice children?

No matter what your political persuasion, that's just insane.

antonknee

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#2492735 27-May-2020 13:05

SirHumphreyAppleby:

antonknee:

The key exception to this is QAnon. That's definitely nonsense and definitely right-wing no matter your political persuasion. There was quite a good GZ thread on conspiracies actually.

Is that the group that thinks celebrities are dying at an increasing rate because they can't sacrifice children?

No matter what your political persuasion, that's just insane.

Yes that's (a very small) part of it - the theory is so huge and has so many moving parts it's a little bit hard to follow. Honestly it's the most insane thing I think I have ever read.

geekbhaji

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#2492805 27-May-2020 13:45

I never created a personal one.

Created one to check the platform, play around, use Facebook market etc. It is a distraction/addiction.

NO longer using it. Life is still great.

Humor makes us humans !

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freitasm

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#2492829 27-May-2020 14:19

I currently use Facebook to connect with family and a few friends. I do not join groups, and try not to like anything.

My use of Twitter has been reduced a lot - including uninstalling the app from my smartphone and checking only once a day for new direct messages. I hope to stop using it completely sometime soon.

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dafman

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#2492839 27-May-2020 14:31

antonknee:

I think Facebook is just a microcosm of the world though. The nasty stuff is out there anyway, Facebook just connects it

No, Facebook doesn't just connect it:

it allows the nasty stuff to be pushed out at a scale exponentially greater than anything that existed before it;
its algorithms reward outrage behaviour over rational behaviour;
it provides a service where users' personal data and behaviour is analysed, then sold, so the purveyors of 'nasty stuff' can specifically target hundreds of thousands of predetermined vulnerable recipients.

There can be no doubt that Facebook and Twitter are key drivers in the increasingly hostile and polarised western world we live in.

Unless something significant changes soon, it won't end well.

MikeAqua

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#2492841 27-May-2020 14:35

I've always though Facebook was dodgy from an ethical and privacy perspective. I've never had an account. If I'd had one them first time I heard about murder being live streamed on Facebook would have been the end for me.

The ugliness on twitter that followed March 14th caused me to ditch twitter for a while and I never went back.

Mike

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#2492850 27-May-2020 14:45

I deleted my facebook account about 4 or 5 years ago. I used it primarily to follow various tech sites as opposed to using it as a social platform.

I have no other social media accounts, no instagram, no twitter etc

Now I just browse reddit.

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