I pulled myself off of Facebook last night... and this morning. The site tries to make sure that you'll never leave. And even when you do, it's just as easy as logging-back-on to "reactivate" your account. Just try it, you'll see.
Last night I thought of a way to take myself off permanently so that I couldn't ever reactivate my own account, but it turns-out that you have to confirm your own password about 3 times when you deactivate your account. I thought that I could just change my password, just blindly hit the keyboard a few times, then deactivate the account--that way I wouldn't know what my password was. No dice!
Got it figured out now, though. I'm off for good, and if you see me posting anything, then call the police on me for wasting more valuable time (notice, though, that I had to hop on my old blogspot account to "notify" my friends almost immediately that I will no longer be reachable through that devil's playground of wasted time and energy).
I'm trying to convince everyone that there is a better way, though, to keep in contact with your friends. Facebook makes you think that you'll never talk to the people that you care about if you leave. It makes you believe that you'll lose contact with someone that you'll regret not talking to again... But, what did you do before Facebook? Weren't you all right? Weren't you able to function just fine? Didn't you have hours more each day to do things that you really ought to have been doing?
Good riddance. Thanks for the fun time, though, and thanks for showing me how pervasive your evil works are Facebook... er, I mean Satan... er, I mean Facebook.
Josh
I have heard that http://suicidemachine.org/ is great for permanently leaving these sites.
ReplyDeleteI admire your decision. I've been thinking about doing so in the near future, but I keep discovering my attraction to Facebook is immense. I just can't not Log in after a deplorable day. It is such a time waster for sure. So many useful things can be done instead. I wish I had your strong will. :) I shall give it a try. BTW I love your blog. Keep up the good work. ;)
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ReplyDeleteI agree! Facebook is evil... :P I don't have any account there and I will never have, even though my friends are still trying to talk me into creating one. I can live without Facebook and I'm proud of it :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! I deleted my account 2-2-2011 ...missed my friends terribly but the ones I tuly know and met we have made efforts through other means of communication. I am so thankful I was brave enough to delete my accuont. It was a time robber for me completely! Good going!
ReplyDeletelol! I agree with everything you said. Congratulations. facebook really is addictive. ive deactivated it for 3 times already but i always managed to find a reason to reactivate it. so now, i decided to do baby steps. FB abstinence for 1 week. Haha!
ReplyDeleteFacebook sure is addictive; and has certainly redefined the way we communicate with peers, society and friends. Same is the case with me - Late to both Orkut and Facebook, I realised these indeed were platforms made for me. I am someone who hardly remembers wishing a friend for his birthday, or calling the so many people I've met and known with satisfactory regularity.
ReplyDeleteI'll probably stay on Facebook forever, though I do agree with the point you're trying to make - just that it doesn't work for me because prior to Social Networking, I was pretty much oblivious to the world of expectation.
now its time for twitter!
ReplyDeleteSorry michael-, now that I've felt what it's like in the frying pan, I'm not going to try and hop right in the fire --just test out the temperature. I've seen the once-a-day-waste-of-time and I'm not planning on wasting my day minute-by-minute with twitter!
ReplyDeleteJPS
Hi josh...I am also planning to stay away from FB soon. Yes, you are right...We were alright before FB came. In fact, we were alright also before cellfones came.
ReplyDeleteAt present, I am thinking of ways how to get rid of FB for good even despite the fact that my wife and kids have FB accounts.
i love your blog!
ReplyDeleteso nice blog... i like it...thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteYou are right! Just let me finish school b/c I need that social circle to keep me updated. after graduation I will discontinue, 12/2011!!! lol - denial perhaps. but NOT
ReplyDeleteSo, Mr. Anonymous schooler, would I be able to find you on FaceBook again next January? Take that as a personal challenge: If you don't get out now, regardless of the potential drawbacks, you will never get out...
ReplyDeleteYou'll always think of a, ".... but after <*whatever*> I'll feel strong enough/confident enough to rid myself from that addiction...." It is a drug. And I'm not kidding around, the chemicals that are released into your blood are the exact same chemicals that are released into your blood stream when you take a drug hit or a fix.
If the drug analogy doesn't wake you up, you should read C. S. Lewis' "The Great DIvorce" and pay attention to the rampant self-deception (telling yourself lies or simply not admitting the truth when you see/feel it). Maybe a cognitive remedy can help you better than my physical analogy.
Either way, JUST GET OUT!!! You are a slave to the drug called FaceBook and it is leading you down the primrose-path to destruction!
One does not regret the decision?
ReplyDeleteWhen does an activity becomes a rut of your delightful time? Or it doesn't matter for what it weighs is a conglomerate of more issues to come. Facebook does have a way to obliterate your sense of values---as to what matters most and what really moves you to living with "the purpose."
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm getting off & out Today before midnight, Texas Central time.