Categories: facebook
I recently started wondering whether I ought to quit Facebook. Not forever... just for a little while. Like a lot of my friends, I spent altogether too much time on this addictive social networking site, and I am starting to wonder what my life would look like if I reclaimed that time. Would I read more? Do more yoga? Work more productively? Or just spend more time on Flickr? ;)
For better or for worse, Facebook offers a "deactivation" option only – and not a delete option. So if I just wanted to take a break, the upside is that Facebook makes it easy to come back – you just log back in. In the meantime, you disappear from the site, but the next time you log back in, you're up and running (the only thing they don't re-instate is any group privileges you might have had).
On the downside... Facebook makes it easy to come back – you just log back in. Damn! That means that the onus is all on me – I have to have some willpower. All I have to do to come back is plug my password back in. How ridiculously easy.
I'm (perhaps irrationally) annoyed by this, actually. I have an addiction! You can't just expect me to screw the top back on my whiskey, put it down next to me, and get on with my life! It's going to sit there and stare at me... begging me to just have a tiny sip... just one time... there's nothing better to do, after all... I'll screw the lid back on again after just one sip...
Come on, I need more support than that. Pour my booze down the drain and move me to a small town without a liquor store. Please. Even if I just had to go through a several-step process in order to get back in, that would probably be enough to keep me out until I really wanted to come back, rather than caving in the first moment of weakness.
And on a more serious note... it appears to me like there is actually no way to delete my account. This stands in sharp contrast to Tribe, for instance, which I left over the weekend (because I never used it anymore). They warned me several times that by deleting my account, I was REALLY DELETING my account from their servers. Was I sure? Yes, I was sure. Truth be told, I wouldn't do that lightly with Facebook, but it concerns me that I don't even have the option.
Anyone else wondered about this?
Ways to delete your Facebook account
Mon, 2007-11-19 17:34 — Jeff (not verified)To fend off the Facebook addiction, I recommend the Catch the Dragon Web site Flash game - not yet written but inspired by South Park.
I was interested in the whole cannot delete thing ... I think if you
email them they would have to oblige you.
This link says you can deactivate and wait 60 days...
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061221065303AABNk1x
This link has a workaround to destroy your account...
http://www.wikihow.com/Permanently-Delete-a-Facebook-Account
If that fails, you could always try writing an offensive Facebook application or posting obscenities or hate speech to your friends' wall.
Why deactivate and not delete
Fri, 2007-12-14 03:52 — tyfn (not verified)Facebook was originally created for college/university students back in 2004 at Harvard before expanding to other ivy league schools, other schools in the states and later Canada before opening up to everyone Sept 2006.
As a student, I wouldn't want the delete option. We have crazy lives are pretty irrational sometimes, and are prone to make decisions we later regret -- especially when dealing with relationships and academic issues. I have one friend in particular that has deactivated her FB account twice this term because she felt she was spending too much time there and neglecting her studies. She knew that she could come back when her school load was lighter or the term was over and everything would be as it was.
Since students put all of their personal information there (mobile number, address, photos with friends) it is a way of easily finding a friend when you need their notes for a class missed or want to figure out what their favouite movie is when having a night in with the girls/guys.
It is also not easy to remember when your friends' birthdays are and as you probably have at least 200 friends on FB at your school, you need to go back sometimes and remember that person's name you haven't seen since last term until your friends. Facebook is a significant part of most students' everyday life and although it is a love/hate relationship based on the time it potentialy may take out of one's day, having a delete option will probably lead to more regret and an increase in emails from frantic students to FB admin asking how they can get their deleted account back which they erased after a fight with their significant other or getting stressed during exams.
As only about 25% in Canada are under 25 years now, FB will have to contine to balance the desires of the non-students (who I still perceive as less active) over their core, original audience who continue to put the fun in Facebook through their social (not professional networking primarly) interaction.
Phillip Jeffrey
I did it!
Fri, 2008-01-11 16:45 — evan (not verified)I am off both FaceBook and flickr for the foreseeable future and things have already started to improve. Old interests and projects have almost immediately reasserted themnselves. I'm working on my novel, reading books and magazines, playing video games, watching TV and movies, going to bed earlier (that's a big one and the impact is noticeable). Most importantly however, my work days are less fragmented by the constant incursion of social networking demands. I focus on projects better. I have also turned off skype. People can still reach me instantly via phone and e-mail. No big loss, actually.