Why I Canceled My Facebook Account
May 2, 2010
I canceled my Facebook account because it was lowering my capacity for independent action. I joined Facebook under certain conceptions that it was a somewhat private place. It used to have a clean interface, especially compared to MySpace. And now it seems that there is something every month where they have started to sell or give more of my stuff to some company without my knowledge.
Facebook, used to be fun and cool, but a large part of what I have to do on Facebook now is adapt to their changes on their terms. This is unacceptable to me, especially when I don’t see the website adding significant benefits.
A service serves someone, but it doesn't look like that someone is me anymore.
Now I wouldn’t have posted about this if a lot of people hadn’t asked me to, and if I had not been personally affected by Facebook’s actions. I was with my girlfriend and we were listening to Pandora. I look at my Pandora player, and there is my girlfriend’s face (supplied by Facebook) staring back at me with some information about her tastes. This would not have been a problem, except she opted out of that program.
We quickly learned you had to also ban each of the groups Facebook was sharing this data with, as well as hitting the opt-out checkbox.
This immediately congealed a sense of loathing for Facebook. It was a combination of their confusing interfaces, reneging on their former commitments, lack of privacy, and spammy newsfeeds. I decided that over the course of the next few days I would back-up my images and cancel my account. And now I have and it feels great.
What has amazed me about canceling my Facebook account is the amount of support people have given my decision. In the comments of a HackerNews post about how to cancel your Facebook account, I posted I was going to be canceling mine, and I thanked the person who posted the instructions. This simple comment generated a large amount of conversation and upvotes. I had expected my comment to fall to the bottom and be ignored, but there is a large group of people who are disgruntled and questioning whether they should use Facebook. I had no idea. I thought I was an outlier.
If you want to get rid of your Facebook account for whatever reason, here are some instructions on how to do it:
http://www.wikihow.com/Permanently-Delete-a-Facebook-Account
Primevector RSS
Primevector 
May 2, 2010 at 5:00 am
Two days ago two of my favourite sites made facebook registration form the only option and I was like ‘the fuck!?’. That’s way more than the nagging ‘DON’T U TOUCH MY PRIVACEH!!!1’ issue, since now it looks pretty much like I need a passport to make a comment on the internet. That’s retarded, that’s dangerous for the future of the web, and that’s why I cancelled my account yesterday.
May 2, 2010 at 5:18 am
A friend of mine has decided to cancel his FB account on similar grounds. FB is slowing trying to become the big brother of Internet. http://kumarbhot.blogspot.com/2010/05/decision-to-move-away-from-facebook.html
May 2, 2010 at 5:50 am
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May 2, 2010 at 6:43 am
“Facebook, used to be fun and cool, but a large part of what I have to do on Facebook now is adapt to their changes on their terms.”
This is an interesting quote and also interchangeable to include MySpace, YouTube or any other website that grows rapidly in their popularity only to start changing things (i.e. including more adds, changing the interface , etc) I just closed my YouTube account and moved to Yahoo video and the reason was I found myself spending more time fighting with and adapting to YT’s policies and having to deal with technical issues, than I was creating videos.
Sadly that seems to be the life cycle of any popular site. Start off small and slowly grow a following. then once the mainstream discovers you and your site name becomes part of the daily lexicon…its all over. Now a website seems obligated to appease the masses so that start playing with things. This ‘playing with things’ is what really bothers me. Heres a word of advice for anyone with a cool site that experiences the growth of a FaceBook “LEAVE SHIT ALONE!!” Don’t fix it! Don’t upgrade it! Don’t try to make it ‘Hipper’! Don’t try to make it ‘cooler!’ Don’t add useless features! Don’t try to personalize it for me! JUST LEAVE IT ALONE!!!
May 2, 2010 at 7:05 am
I canceled mine also, bad thing is, they keep your info even after you cancel it. Five years from now, we will move to something cooler, be patient…
May 2, 2010 at 7:55 am
Sweet. I deleted my Facebook acct 4 years ago when it first started getting too easy to stalk people on there, and from the comments about the changes from many friends at the time, thought more would follow in my footsteps. In reality though, they didn’t, and some were concerned that I’d left. I’m glad you’ve gotten so much support in leaving now, that’s always a nice surprise on top of the freedom & control you feel once you close your account. :) high five!
May 2, 2010 at 8:13 am
Very nice article. I agree with you completely and wish that I could delete my facebook account. I’ve contemplated doing a web2.0 suicide for a while now, however, I’m about to enter college this fall and I realize I am going to need it as a communication tool with professors and fellow students and maybe with businesses later on. I really hate that part.
However, I have taken precautions, the only picture I have up there is the circuitry diagram that xkcd posted (I think a week ago) and the only information that you can actually find about me on there is that my religion is vi bigot.
I have also been messing around with imacros (for firefox) and create some scipts for deleting friends, groups, pages, and soon block applications. The only downside is you must have the app page open in a tab (one per app) for it to work. I have been trying to get my friends to do this however none of them believe that facebook is evil and that they believe that an onion ring is more popular than justin beiber or who ever that guy is.
shame.
May 2, 2010 at 9:18 am
I’ve certainly noticed that Facebook is becoming more cluttered in its design – this seems to be an unfortunate symptom.
Unfortunately, I don’t have the guts to quit just yet. Good job, good job.
May 2, 2010 at 9:54 am
I deleted my account five months ago now because of the privacy concerns; it’s just not acceptable. I added a friend, and before they’d accepted my request I could see all their user info – stuff they’d set to private.
I only got one in the first place to be connected to university friends, but it ended up taking over my life.
Congrats on cancelling your account!
~Kialtho
May 2, 2010 at 10:09 am
Google should do a social networking site, I would switch over
May 3, 2010 at 6:13 am
um… orkut?
May 2, 2010 at 11:01 am
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May 2, 2010 at 11:02 am
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May 2, 2010 at 11:41 am
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May 2, 2010 at 11:55 am
facebook has never been cool. the idea has been always to use the data /ie how people build relationships and how they network/ to build marketing profiles, tune up customer segmentation and, eventually, to boost sales. dirty business. i’ve never been on facebook but recently i’ve received an invite to join. the invite was sent to my gmail account and it contained faces of people from my gmail contact book. clearly google and facebook trade data with each other. time to dump gmail as well.
May 2, 2010 at 12:04 pm
yea.. at times I also feel insecure about my personal details..
May 2, 2010 at 12:04 pm
I would have deleted my facebook account years ago save for the fact that it allowed people I had lost contact with to get in contact with me again. I just put NO information on it. No profile, no pictures, untag myself from anything posted etc. I see that as retaining the benefit while circumventing the privacy issues.
May 2, 2010 at 12:10 pm
I think more and more people are starting to move to your way of thinking. Facebook is becoming a little too full of pointless and bothersome pages, apps, games etc. I don’t care how many chickens you have on your farm, nor do I care that you would like me to be your neighbour – a thought I have almost daily while merely trying to communicate easily with friends and family.
Interesting post, thanks.
May 2, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Good perspective on closing Facebook account! May be it is a time for fresh start presenting yourself differently. I did not mean lying about yourself however it is wise to balance/limit your privacy exposure on most of these social networking platform.
In early days most of the social networking sites looked merely like dating sites but the landscape it changed so much over the years, it has now emerged into modern style of networking personally as well as professionally. As I continue to learn more about best practices on how to effectively use these platforms, your blog does warn me to be more careful.
Thanks
Yogesh
May 2, 2010 at 12:29 pm
I guess it’s great the feeling of cancel your facebook account. I guess it makes you feel more free. I use facebook because of my friends, but lately I get bored of it. I have think in cancel my account but something stop me to do that. Did you feel the same in your case? Don’t you have the feeling of back to facebook again?
May 2, 2010 at 12:34 pm
I have not been tempted to go back because I found that my behavior online changed when I quit it. I found myself searching for things of interest, rather than waiting for something interesting to come into my feed. It is odd that the less I depend on delivered content, the more I start searching for things that actually interest me.
May 4, 2010 at 3:13 am
Cool comments primevector
May 2, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Mate I deleted my Facebook account and I find I use my time much more efficiently as a result. Good blog!
http://deedeememe.wordpress.com/
June 4, 2012 at 7:46 am
I just cancelled my account this past weekend and I got so much done around the house! It consumed me. I was addicted to the games and keeping up with all the postings. I just got tired of it because it was eating up my life. Now I can go for a walk in the evenings again and spend more quality time with my husband.
May 2, 2010 at 12:49 pm
I have never had a facebook and never want one! Great information!
May 2, 2010 at 1:03 pm
You dont have to use your real name on facebook!
May 2, 2010 at 1:19 pm
I deleted my facebook account two months ago. It was tough to do so, but once I did, I felt so liberated. Normally, it would take almost half an hour of waming up time on my computer before I would get my teeth in my work. That time kept on increasing with the increase in my friend list. One day I realized that my very important project was suffering while I was reading the the updates like-‘Ooops I got wet in rain today- I fogot to carry my umbrella.’; ‘I’m feeling nostaligic since I saw ____ movie last night’; ‘I had some friends over who appreciated my cooking.’. And I was reading the stuff like this (of course, besides some good stuff too), not just once, but two to three times a day.
The thought of cancelling the account was too scary, but I knew I had to do it. So, I decided to cancel it for a month on trail basis- you can always reopen it whenever you want to. The initial period was quite painful and I had withdrawls too. But in the long run, there were more benifits than losses. I was planning to reopen it in the begining of April, but never went back. I mail my close friends now, and get better, more serious and clear replies.
It’s been two months since I cancelled my FB account, and since then I have so much more time per day. I managed to finish 3 projects that were pending since 7 months and am going to start off with the fourth one.
The guys who are scared to cancel it can do it on trail basis- for a month or 15 days, and see how it goes. You can always go back-your friends are gonna be there forever! :)
May 2, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Wow, I’m impressed with the information! Thank you. Seems like you did the right thing.
May 2, 2010 at 1:57 pm
Great post, I pretty much have the same reasoning and though I used to be hyper-active facebook user, I quit over 3 months ago and it feels great.
my post is here, slacktivism and why i quit facebook: http://www.jonathanbrun.com/2010/04/slacktivism-and-why-i-quit-facebook.html
glad to hear the mouvement is growing.
May 2, 2010 at 3:27 pm
I have it but wield it when necessary! It is about addictiveness rather usefulness!
May 2, 2010 at 3:59 pm
I never had a facebook account and never will. I don’t see a point, if I want to talk to my friends I just give them a call (note call not text, i hate texting its has no emotion) . I only use online social networking to blog and communicate with people from the outside and learn and start relationships with people I don’t know around the world.
May 2, 2010 at 4:00 pm
It’s funny, but I’ve been thinking for about a week now about deleting my account (and will likely be writing a post not unlike this one when that time comes, to encourage others to do the same). So your post comes at a perfect time. Congratulations on escaping! :)
May 2, 2010 at 4:43 pm
I like FB I have a disease called Sarcoidosis and can’t go out to much. It has helped me get in touch with people I havn’t seen in a long time. Alot of my family and friends are spread out all over the country. I don’t play any games, I just use it to post pictures of my cakes and like I said keep in touch with people I can’t see…
May 2, 2010 at 4:57 pm
A lot of people keep saying that Facebook is pretty much going to be the future of the internet; that it’s going to continue to grow until it takes over. While it’s obviously growing, I think it’s starting to lose momentum and is on its way out. I’m 22 years old, representing the college age group that signed up for FB when we were it’s only target audience. More and more people my age are feeling the way that you do and are either not signing onto FB as much or are canceling their accounts completely.
May 2, 2010 at 5:05 pm
[…] Why I Canceled My Facebook Account I canceled my Facebook account because it was lowering my capacity for independent action. I joined Facebook under […] […]
May 2, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Thank you for this info!! I’ve never thought much of Facebook and deactivated my very minimal page after the most recent privacy flap. What I wanted, of course, was to delete it — expunge it, erase it, and obliterate it — but couldn’t find a place to permanently delete it. Now I have.
May 2, 2010 at 5:50 pm
My partner cancelled hers because she didn’t want her little 7th grade students seeing her as a real person. I happen to disagree with her reasoning on this. I do, however, agree with your reasoning for getting rid of the account and I am going to consider it now.
May 2, 2010 at 6:23 pm
Thanks, Great article.. !! I was listening to NPR just last week and they were discussing how FB was slowly invading our lives.. Just like what Pandora did to you, it freaked me out when I saw that one of my wall posts had been, “Rachana has just RSVPed for an event on Meetup”.. I felt robbed of my privacy and I got mad for a little bit, because I had to go and hide it.. ! And a friend’s wall consistenly has, “He is traveling to Austin via TripAdvisor” or “He is traveling to Seattle via TripAdvisor”.. Seriously?!?! I think we all should boycott FB :))
And you are now on my blogroll.. !
Rachana
May 2, 2010 at 6:51 pm
I have not canceled mine, but I have noticed its disavowal of privacy in general. I recently wrote about this on my blog
The trend to publicly share all aspects of one’s life I thought was a general cultural phenomenon. But you have made me thought that it may all be a plan perpetrated by corporations. Or at least, they are certainly benefiting from it.
May 2, 2010 at 7:00 pm
didn’t realize it was like that. have never had issues with privacy. just tired of the apps and requesting to ‘use’ or import information from facebook page in order to run one. i’ve enoyed finding old schoolmates and friends on Facebook. but i also had a friend recently tell me her account was hacked. makes me wonder…and actually how long can they ‘hold’ your information in their storage files or whatever they’re called? truly unnerving
May 3, 2010 at 9:19 am
They can “hold” your stuff forever. They take ownership of your pics and uploads once you put them on their site; even if you cancel your account, they keep it.
May 2, 2010 at 8:09 pm
[…] Adrian Perez puts it like this I joined Facebook under certain conceptions that it was a somewhat private place. […] now it seems that there is something every month where they have started to sell or give more of my stuff to some company without my knowledge. Facebook, used to be fun and cool, but a large part of what I have to do on Facebook now is adapt to their changes on their terms…. Now I wouldn’t have posted about this […] if I had not been personally affected by Facebook’s actions. I was with my girlfriend and we were listening to Pandora. I look at my Pandora player, and there is my girlfriend’s face (supplied by Facebook) staring back at me with some information about her tastes. This would not have been a problem, except she opted out of that program. […]
May 2, 2010 at 8:23 pm
[…] Why I Canceled My Facebook Account – Every day I like Facebook less and less. This explains some of my thinking. […]
May 2, 2010 at 11:51 pm
Social networking such as facebook can be either good or bad. I joined facebook when it wasn’t hmm famous yet, so whatever I said none cared, as I only had one or two, five at the most contacts, but now my facebook has grown into a big pool with most people I know. I am not sure whether I will delete it as many of my good friends are there, those whom I don’t meet often, my relatives who live afar. But one thing for sure, I don’t really update status there that much.
I think the internet has bring some downsides on human beings at some point:_)
Greetings from afar.
May 3, 2010 at 12:38 am
I still have one, but i see where your comming from, i do feel it has become just tooo Advertising? if that makes any sense, i mean i get more notifications about apps and games then i do of Friends… i got into it when you had to be invited pretty much, And well have been using it ever since, But now i’ve come to get annoyed with the changing of the layouts, making them more App Based, And just the sheer number of pointless stupid app invites. well thats’ my 2cents, im new to this, but i did have a xanga once lol.
May 3, 2010 at 1:06 am
[…] I canceled my Facebook account because it was lowering my capacity for independent action. I joined Facebook under certain conceptions that it was a somewhat private place. It used to have a clean interface especially compared to … […]
May 3, 2010 at 2:34 am
[…] Why I Canceled My Facebook Account « Primevector […]
May 3, 2010 at 3:11 am
I could not agree more..i read newspapers profusely..so i would daily share articles from online newspapers..there is too much loopholes to privacy..so i didnt delete my account. I setup a blog (or v-log) sharing short edited video conversations with small businesses, entrepepreneurs & everyday people. I wanted a way to share and engage more. I am a videographer, ethnographer and marketer. I must say it has been a great week. I still share articles but i now share post that are more personal… hey if ur around nyc.. i would love to share your story..facefwd..http://mysmallstory.wordpress.com/
May 3, 2010 at 12:14 pm
Cool site. Unfortunately, I live in the Bay Area, so it would be a bit difficult to swing by for an interview. Good luck with your unique blog/vlog.
May 3, 2010 at 3:38 am
There are enough of you here to start you own networking site. You can then have the privacy polices that makes you feel protected.
I have all ready said on my blog ( plasweld.wordpress.com )that companies and web sites are playing with your personal info to your detriment. I put my hands up now and admit I run my own company and web site. I know it is bad businiss to share customer info the bigger they get the more corrupted they become.
May 3, 2010 at 6:20 am
I cancelled my Facebook a while ago… it was the best decision for me. I was done with it the minute it started getting shady with all the privacy buttons you should have known to (but were never told to) push. They are taking advantage of people. Not to mention it is a horrible way to keep in touch, pick up the phone instead! sheesh
May 3, 2010 at 6:25 am
Thank you for your post.
You did mention that you backed-up your fb contents, how did you go about that?
You gave me the final nudge I needed to make up my mind and delete my fb account but would like to back-up some of its contents. I wholeheartedly agree with all the issues you mentioned in your post. Keeping up or rather undoing their almost weekly changes has become too time consuming and worrying. fb-admin is definitely in the driver’s seat and I did not sign up for being at their mercy.
Once I warmed up to it, I really enjoyed fb until late last year, now it’s time to move on: “been there, done that, clean slate for the next good thing to come along”
May 3, 2010 at 12:11 pm
There is a tool called ArchiveFacebook, it is a Firefox plugin. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/13993
I started using this and eventually figured out how to get it working, but even then, it had so much data to go through that it was taking forever. I really just wanted to back up my photos, and ArchiveFacebook backs up a lot more than that. So I eventually just downloaded my photos manually, and canceled my account.
May 3, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Thank you for the tip. Very helpful. I’ll give it a try.
May 3, 2010 at 6:45 am
An interesting aside is that your diagram could also be used for a number of other companies, including Amazon and eBay—with the reservation that the user-benefit curve often actually points slightly downwards…
May 3, 2010 at 7:06 am
Ironically, I posted this on Facebook. :)
I like the nice side of Facebook, the connection with relatives and friends from afar, but I have been increasingly concerned with FB’s potential dark side.
Thanks for the link. Gloris
May 3, 2010 at 7:31 am
I’m the same, gosh I hate Facebook! It keeps changing the features and privacy!!! Every few months I have to change or view my privacy set up to see what have they messed with. Not only that, it’s making some of my friends too lazy to email. Sometimes they’ll leave me messages on FB expecting me to reply when it’s faster and easier to reach me via email!
Facebook I’ve realised is just a big waste of time, good for the advertisers though. I hope FB turns to shit and another website takes over just like how FB overtook Myspace. That way, maybe they’ll LISTEN to us! You know what? The friends who refuse to even sign up to Facebook seem happier than those who constantly give updates about themselves.
May 3, 2010 at 7:36 am
I should check out those instructions to delete an account PERMANENTLY. I deleted my account back in September and when I decided to try it out again, all I had to do was log in with my old credentials and noticed that everything had been saved. Very scary.
May 3, 2010 at 9:02 am
I’ve gone back and forth with this decision a few times over the last couple years and have at times disabled my account. Yet, I continue to get pulled back due to the number of friends and family that are on it. Its become a standard source of communication and news for some people. If you aren’t on it, you feel left out.
May 3, 2010 at 9:18 am
I was just getting ready to send such a note to all my FB contacts saying the same thing- my big concern was initially their policy on copyrights and intellectual property of uploaded materials, but security has been a huge problem lately, and then with them selling profile info to third parties without my knowledge or permission… um… I can send photographs to people by myself, thanks.
May 3, 2010 at 10:02 am
[…] tool for connecting with your friends. I came across a great post today at Primevector entitled: Why I Canceled My Facebook Account. There’s a cool graph on there illustrating how the recent changes to Facebook have been […]
May 3, 2010 at 10:34 am
I joined late, and quickly grew uncomfortable with Facebook’s exhibitionist core nature. Also got contacted by some old friends, which isn’t always a good thing. I then cancelled my account a year ago, and don’t regret it. Recently I’ve heard phrases such as “I’ll facebook you”, and I find such a reliance and trust of people into a corporate product both idiotic and concerning. Because of peer pressure and a little bit of convenience people give up all their privacy and dignity these days. Good to see there’s a growing opposition to it! Facebook certainly has some useful functions, but in social terms it offers nothing that’s not possible through other ways elsewhere. I do in fact think it primarily serves the type of people who like to talk about themselves more than anything else, as well as marketing corporations lusting for info on people’s private lives to conceive ever more manipulative ways to make us buys things which we don’t need.
May 3, 2010 at 11:17 am
I do think the social networking movement has got out of control. I do have a FB account, which I’ve had for about 3 years now, I only access it once a fortnight and I can count the times I’ve updated my status since I’ve had it on my fingers. I don’t find it addictive and use it on an as-needed basis. I hate all the advertising, games, silly apps that come with it, the robbing of privacy and FB tracing every little move we make in real life and the interweb. I never connect any other sites I use to FB (to my knowledge), I don’t care to fill up people’s live feeds with what song I’ve favourited on youtube, my comments on others blogs and my whereabouts. The only reason I keep it is because so many of my high school friends and Uni friends use it and it has allowed me to reconnect with old friends I’ve lost during childhood moves. I think your reasons for quitting your account are spot on though.
May 3, 2010 at 12:03 pm
hi,
i don’t have a facebook account, and i have decided not to have one. there are a lot of invitations for me to sign up, but i did not. i still stand by my criteria for choosing a social network site. it should not control me, i should be the one who’s gonna controlling. i am also slowly killing off my friendster account. i would only retain the wordpress, absolutely.
May 3, 2010 at 12:31 pm
[…] Why I Canceled My Facebook Account (tags: facebook privacy socialmedia socialnetwork) […]
May 3, 2010 at 1:23 pm
[…] to Adrian Perez over at Primevector for the tip. 39.739154 -104.984703 This entry was posted in Business, Life, Technology and […]
May 3, 2010 at 1:30 pm
[…] I think Facebook crossed the line is their strong arm tactics, opt-out strategy, and move to begin monetizing the social graph. They are essentially forcing me to make my profile, interests, and other personal information […]
May 3, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Hey Adrian,
I’d still like to keep in touch with you now that you are no longer on facebook. I remembered this URL from a while ago, I think when you had it posted on facebook. Anyways, I found it again today and am just posting here to ask you if there is some other way we can keep in touch?
Pavel
May 3, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Sure. I just emailed you.
May 3, 2010 at 6:01 pm
[…] rocket.ly’s list of 10 reasons you should delete your account on Facebook, and why Primevector thinks canceling out of Facebook is a great idea right about […]
May 3, 2010 at 8:11 pm
A couple months ago, Eben Moglen spoke about how our loss of personal privacy was in large part related to the migration of our data to the Facebooks of the world. He was disappointed that, in 2010, we weren’t able to use our considerable personal computing resources to do this at home, with the same sort of great user experiences and ability to link up with everyone you know (or ever knew.) There really isn’t a good reason for just one firm to hold onto all your stories and persona and secrets. Better to spread them around and use networking to connect them together and clever software to link them up for easy sharing.
That said, some computer science students took up his point and decided to build an open social network, one that will let you control your data absolutely, while being able to share with people you know or people you don’t know – your choice.
They’re just getting started – you can check out their plans here at http://joindiaspora.com . The goal is to give you back your control and create a social network scheme where the users run the show, not the marketers.
With all our broadband, all our easy web hosting services, and all our computing power – we should be able to do this without being at the mercy of one company’s idea of privacy. :)
wwward
May 3, 2010 at 8:22 pm
I totally agree and was thinking about doing this myself. If we put our minds to it, we can definitely develop a social network tool that will empower people and not just a closed institution. I am following them on twitter. You can also follow them on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/joindiaspora
May 3, 2010 at 10:04 pm
I’ve had serious privacy concerns for a while; every time FB changes their terms I get more creeped out. I’m considering deleting my account, but for now I’ve deleted my wall posts, turned off my wall, and limited my photos and personal information. Now I have to deal with annoying “OMG what happened to yur facebook page?!” emails from clueless friends. *sigh*
May 3, 2010 at 10:23 pm
DO NOT cancel your account, add noise to it. If FB is selling user content, its already out there you cannot get it back. Instead make it useless by adding large amounts of statistical noise.
I filled in my ‘about me’ forms with lots of random bands and movies, joined random groups and befriended random people (like the cookie monster). That is far more threatening to the FB business model.
May 3, 2010 at 10:29 pm
The reason I left is that it was no longer helping increase my ability to interact with the world on my own terms. I initially thought of doing what you recommend. I’m not sure that Facebook would even notice that type of resistance and objection. It seems like it would take it a while for it to become common knowledge that Facebook data is noisy garbage. And meanwhile, Facebook could move along as if everything is okay.
May 3, 2010 at 10:50 pm
You cannot delete your account, you can only deactivate it. So if you want to get rid of your data you have very few options. I agree that FB probably didn’t notice, but it did make me feel better, and why not?
May 3, 2010 at 10:58 pm
I think there are two mechanisms for closing an account: Deactivation and deletion.
Here are instructions on how to deactivate: http://www.ehow.com/how_2031215_deactivate-facebook-account.html
And here are instructions on how to delete: http://www.wikihow.com/Permanently-Delete-a-Facebook-Account
Although, they may keep your data anyway for who knows how long. Still, if your strategy works for you, GO FOR IT! :)
May 3, 2010 at 10:56 pm
Just read the wiki how *whoops* okay so you can permanently delete your data, interesting… thanks for the post. I still want to keep FB as backup phonebook though, so I’ll stick to noise.
May 4, 2010 at 1:38 am
[…] list of 10 reasons you should delete your account on Facebook, and why Primevector thinks canceling out of Facebook is a great idea right about […]
May 4, 2010 at 7:21 am
[…] many people are actually leaving the popular social networking site (more people are feeling like this guy, but don’t have the courage to hit deactivate), but, from my own experience, people are […]
May 4, 2010 at 1:40 pm
As a student of International Relations, methinks it is a kind of soft power and falls in category of neo imperialism.
May 4, 2010 at 9:24 pm
[…] him.” He has almost a dozen reasons why. Some of them are even good reasons. He’s not alone. And more and more of us, disenchanted, disenfranchised Facebookers know […]
May 4, 2010 at 11:01 pm
[…] Why I Canceled My Facebook Account […]
May 5, 2010 at 9:31 am
Kind of insidious how they hide it. Too many people are given the impression that “deactivating” your account is enough. I’ve had to explain to several people, my father included, that deactivating does nothing to delete your data or ANYTHING you’ve put up on a Facebook profile.
May 5, 2010 at 11:40 am
[…] Then a very good piece by Adrian Perez began bouncing quite wildly about the Twitterverse, explaing why he just canceled his Facebook Profile. […]
May 6, 2010 at 2:57 am
[…] is funny how things, happen I have cruised the WordPress blogs and came across ”why I cancelled my Facebook account” It is about an individual fed up with his data being used for other peoples gain and I agree […]
May 6, 2010 at 10:03 am
[…] and PrimeVector on why they (and you) should cancel your Facebook […]
May 7, 2010 at 5:32 am
[…] Perez has already deleted his Facebook account, and on his blog he goes into detail why he did it. (Perez, 2010a). If that’s not enough, here are ten reasons why you should quit […]
May 8, 2010 at 3:16 pm
thx for information. Very useful for me.
May 12, 2010 at 10:41 am
Totally agree. I think I’ll be cancelling my account shortly.
May 13, 2010 at 9:52 am
I’m this close to cancelling my account. I’m trying to inform my friends and acquaintances about the whole thing first but I’ve had enough.
May 13, 2010 at 11:19 am
I did the same thing. I gave it a couple of days, and put my email up throughout, so that people would have a way to contact me. Good idea!
May 13, 2010 at 11:18 pm
[…] Why I Canceled My Facebook Account Kat […]
May 19, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Two interesting facebook articles are posted on my blogspot: one has a link so that you can determine how safe your facebook info is. The other is one of the “how to delete” guides!
May 22, 2010 at 8:39 am
Hi Adrian, totally enjoyed your entry ‘Why I Canceled My Facebook Account’ as a informative and supportive resource to cancel with FB.
I just started my own blog with WordPress and I was wondering what ‘theme’ are you using for your current WordPress Blog when you wrote this entry. It clean, simple and neat.
May 22, 2010 at 1:31 pm
The theme is Simpla by Phu Ly. Of all the free WordPress themes that you can get with the minimum account, I like it the best.
October 6, 2010 at 5:30 pm
[…] Why I Canceled My Facebook Account […]
November 3, 2010 at 12:56 pm
I used to be somewhat of a FB addict. I couldn’t help checking it 4-5 times a day at work and getting on it for maybe an hour in the evening. I deleted my account probably 2 months ago or so. I am liberated! I sent an email to around 30 people letting them know that they could email me to keep in touch. Guess how many I stay in touch with? The same friends I kept in touch with BEFORE Facebook! I don’t even hear from family members! It’s as if you have to be on FB to keep in touch. It is absolutely crazy. It is a FB obsessed world. I can’t even watch the news or go on any website without seeing “follow us on FB.” FB is mainly about narcissism and voyeurism in my opinion. I feel so much better about life now that I spend my time connecting with friends and family members who care about me. It is just weird to be on FB and friend every person you’ve ever spoken to in your life. I wish more people would get out and enjoy life instead of living in a virtual world.
November 3, 2010 at 1:36 pm
I had a similar experience. The people I really knew stayed in contact. The ones I was less connected to fell out of touch. I don’t miss it though. I see people go to Facebook and they find it uninteresting and like a chore. I don’t miss that at all. The only thing I’ve noticed is that sometimes I miss an event that I would have been more likely to see. But in regard to friends and enjoying my time with them in real life, it has been just fine.
It’s interesting that this blog post is one of my most clicked on, and it seems to be because I link to the steps to cancel your facebook account. I have a few people click on that link everyday.
November 10, 2010 at 4:25 am
[…] https://primevector.wordpress.com/2010/05/02/why-i-canceled-my-facebook-account/ […]
November 20, 2010 at 10:02 am
Hi Primevector,
I have a question regarding the intellectual property rights with respect to Facebook that you might be able to answer. In their terms of agreement they state that you grant them a “non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (“IP License”). “
If I post link to an article on facebook, do they steal the intellectual property rights to that article? Further, do they steal the rights of all the articles on your blog too? I mean the blog is “in connection” with the shared article. But does that mean that they claim possession of the entire internet? It is a rather lose statement isn’t it?
I have just started a blog regarding some non trivial ideas that I have and I do not want facebook to get their hands of it, but I thought it could be helpful to use them by publishing links without loosing my rights…
Best regards,
Mika
November 20, 2010 at 10:17 am
Since I am not a lawyer, I wouldn’t know how strong a claim their EULA gives them toward external intellectual property. I assume that what they are doing with a sentence like that is casting a wide net. And then they can see how much they can get away with based on who sues them for using their material.
Part of why I canceled my Facebook account is because of issues like the one you are pointing out. I simply don’t trust the company to act well on my behalf.
March 29, 2011 at 10:37 pm
i had similar experiance the people i really knew stayed in contact.the once i was less connected to fell out of touch. i dont miss it thought
March 29, 2011 at 10:38 pm
thank you.
June 8, 2011 at 2:27 pm
Thanks for this article and the great supportive response it has had.
I am in day 10 of waiting for my account to be deleted. They hold it in deactivation mode for 14 days in case you change your mind. To give myself no point to log back in…therefore reactivating…I deleted all ‘friends’
I am a long time supporter of internet chat and I have returned to a chat site where I paid to be a lifetime member 15 years ago! No adverts and a real person behind the scenes to contact, and people from other countries who I’ve known online all of this time. These are my real internet friends.
For me, Facebook represents all that is bad about online networking. It is full of internet and chat newbies who are being led down a path designed by others and they haven’t got a clue what it really means.
I have many examples of things that I’ve seen on Facebook that led to my decision. One that sticks in my mind was the bass player in our band stopping in between songs at rehearsal to update their Facebook by phone! They were so distracted by it that they weren’t playing properly. They got the sack. Another is having my photo taken by someone’s mobile phone and having the picures published and tagged without my permission. I’m not against having information about me on the web but it needs to be information of my own choosing. The list goes on!
cheers all
October 7, 2014 at 9:36 pm
God, this was back in 2010. Boy, am I late!
I just cancelled my Facebook account mostly because of the overreaching privacy policies. But, as a benefit, I feel so much freer than I can remember. I still like Twitter, but the thing is people, join with the intention that whatever they tweet is public to all. I did what many people did and posted my e-mail address and phone number (I mean, Facebook already has that data) and waited a couple of days before PERMANENTLY deleting my account. So far, only one person has contacted me, so whatevs >.>
I’m taking the privacy thing a bit further and deleting all “spyware” apps like Google, Yahoo, Skype, Amazon, Evernote, and so forth.
*I still have a GMail account for spam, but I switched to a paid CounterMail account for private communications.
Even changing my spending habits so that credit cards don’t get my daily patterns. My goal is to take a HUGE step back, and understand what exactly I’m agreeing to before I hit the Agree button. At the bare minimum, only share in the public domain what I intentionally decide to.
It’s kind of surprising and a bit eerie, that my life has not changed that much. Makes you wonder how ingrained the erosion of privacy has become.