Yes, that’s right I have deactivated my Facebook account and am “officially” quitting the social networking service. Some people will ask me why, others we get it already and then some may even wonder “what’s the deal with FB in the first place”.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not politically or morally against Facebook like some pundits (but I completely agree with Tom on spending more time in the real world and that neocons suck) nor I am not interested in online social networking. I have simply found Facebook to be a useless service and a complete waste of my time. This move it really part of personal “online downsizing” efforts (this is a life hack, trust me!). I am downsizing so I can have more time to do fun stuff in the real world – like go to Tumble Tots with my little one, go to pub with mates, go for a run, do xxx with my wife and maybe even finally learn to play the ukulele. I want limit what attention and time I give for online stuff (Note to self: there is alink to the ‘attention economy’ thread to this move). You get the idea.
I estimate that for me Facebook easily eats up at least 1 hour a week. That’s 52 hours a year. According to piece in the BBC back in Sept, Facebook is costing companies as well. I have too many online accounts and too many online services that want my attention. My time is valuable. So, I am downsizing.
This week I am cutting the following as a start:
I am sure I can find some others to kill off as well… Instead, I am going to focus my time online. For me, LinkedIn works well. I am haevy into email, blogs, news and search. That should keep me busy. I can use YoutTube, Flickr and del.icio.us to get the same type of functionality from the better parts of FB.
What did I like about FB?
- The fun wall
- Connecting with a few old friends
For the fun wall there are better services out there (YouTube, Flickr, etc). Old friends can find me online and if I have old friends who are hard to find, well maybe they want it that way.What did I hate about FB?
- emails telling me go get messages
- lack of useful stuff
- waste of time
- to much hype
- slow, sluggish service
- friend request from people I barely know or don’t really like
– see Costanza Rule - Groucho 2.0 Rule
So, I say let’s all try to spend more time doing “real social networking” and spend more time offline in 2008. That’s it for now. I would like to hear from other people who have quit Facebook.
Note: I will be back to update my Social Networking Hype and 7 Rules for Success next week.
15 responses so far ↓
Doctor Drone // 16 January 2008 at 2:31 pm |
Smart move. I only use it for people who went to my schools but I don’t really know. Better not to use it at all.
You’re my hero.
dylanfuller // 16 January 2008 at 6:49 pm |
Thanks for the commnet. btw – I like your image, pirates rock!
SimonB // 23 January 2008 at 12:44 pm |
One thing – I’ve evolved my use on Facebook to use it as a social and personal utility. That is as a personal enhancement o/s to make my life easier.
That is I’ve stripped all the Apps like SuperWall etc. and instead have put in 30Boxes Calendar, etc. I even found that there’s a cloud storage app yesterday…nice.
Even LifeHacker thinks it’s an interesting way to go (and this a link from July!) http://lifehacker.com/software/technophilia/get-productive-with-the-best-facebook-apps-282914.php
dylanfuller // 23 January 2008 at 4:42 pm |
Thanks for the comments, Tanks. Here some more of my thoughts:
I sort of agree if you have the time to spend setting up and customizing your Facebook prefernces etc. Do you know how much time you ahve spent getting FB into a useful utility state? Hours, days, weeks?
For me, I don’t have time. To much of my life is already either in Outlook (at work), in gmail or the mobile. I am looking forward to trying out apps and plugins for the tools I already use. I also found that not enough my my friends and family were using FB to make the investment of my time worth it.
Let’s keep the discussion going. What do other folks think – is Facebook a personal utility or just for fun?
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abc // 23 November 2008 at 11:22 pm |
I actually just quit Facebook. I must say that I am happy, I feel kind of relaxed.
I quit because it was a waste of my time. I hated constantly comparing myself to others in terms of what applications they had, how many friends they had, etc. I am happy to be free of such a nuisance.
simonbaptist // 17 December 2008 at 1:38 pm |
Aren’t you using Facebook again? Would be interested to find out why?
mike c // 17 December 2008 at 4:50 pm |
i’m with you fuller. fb is too much of a time drain for nothing back. its not really a utility app like rememberthemilk for example, which i use all the time. you might want to check out backpack from 37 signals. (www.backpackit.com) Seems like a great app to organize your digital life. I might sign up to the solo version and test it out.
Now there is a great web 2.0 app with a proper model. Always on the look out as you well know
dylanfuller // 17 December 2008 at 7:10 pm |
Well Gents, I went back to FB. Mostly to keep track and up-to-date with old friends back in the US. More on that vibe later. And thanks for the comments.
Amber // 29 March 2009 at 10:31 pm |
You went back!!!!! Ahhhh!!! I came to you to be my online guru- showing me a better way! So I guess this means I’m staying with FB. Suck.