I first got my Facebook account when it was still limited to university students, and earlier this year deleted it. I was surprised to find I don't miss it even a little bit. It was fun when it...
I first got my Facebook account when it was still limited to university students, and earlier this year deleted it. I was surprised to find I don't miss it even a little bit. It was fun when it first came out, but getting rid of it has really opened my eyes to how absurdly long it overstayed its welcome and how toxic it's become. Not toxic from a content perspective (though there's plenty of that), but from a behavioral one.
For me it was no longer a platform of communication, but instead a garbage chute for life experiences and an active inhibitor of communication. You'd post something meaningful in your life by reducing it to one flat photo or a bite-sized thought, then lock it into your history for loved ones to give an off-handed click of acknowledgement to before it got buried in marketing noise, and after that the experience was essentially used up. It could no longer be a topic of discussion--everyone had already seen your post on it, no point repeating yourself.
I lost a few people by ditching it, but feel I've gained more social connection with more important friends. Maybe I miss out on some things, but the people who really care still communicate, and now it all comes through conversation instead of distilled into a little rectangle to give a meaningless thumbs up toward.
I first got my Facebook account when it was still limited to university students, and earlier this year deleted it. I was surprised to find I don't miss it even a little bit. It was fun when it first came out, but getting rid of it has really opened my eyes to how absurdly long it overstayed its welcome and how toxic it's become. Not toxic from a content perspective (though there's plenty of that), but from a behavioral one.
For me it was no longer a platform of communication, but instead a garbage chute for life experiences and an active inhibitor of communication. You'd post something meaningful in your life by reducing it to one flat photo or a bite-sized thought, then lock it into your history for loved ones to give an off-handed click of acknowledgement to before it got buried in marketing noise, and after that the experience was essentially used up. It could no longer be a topic of discussion--everyone had already seen your post on it, no point repeating yourself.
I lost a few people by ditching it, but feel I've gained more social connection with more important friends. Maybe I miss out on some things, but the people who really care still communicate, and now it all comes through conversation instead of distilled into a little rectangle to give a meaningless thumbs up toward.
Found this on HN. Here is a link to that thread with lots of interesting points.
Sounds like it's harder to get hooked on Facebook if you've never experienced social acceptance in the first place.