Thursday, June 28, 2012

Top 5 Reasons to Quit Facebook:-)

If you have never come across articles like this one, chances are that you either do not have a personal computer/tablet/smartphone, or that you have already attained Nirvana from the mythical world of 'virtual' social networking:-)


I had been an avid user of Facebook myself, for almost 5 years. Until.... yesterday.

The lava of a superficial, ego filled (at times narcissistic) display of social presence in a virtual world that was bubbling up slowly over the years, took an outward turn. What tipped the point was Facebook team's persistent attempts at taking things in their own control, dis regarding the service user's rights to privacy. And no it is not OK even if it is legal, and is covered by the cryptic, long terms of usage you click to agree to when signing up on their shiny website.

So here are top 5 reasons I deleted (not deactivated - completely *deleted* - limited only by cache copies that will stay forever on FB's persistent data storage) my Facebook account:

5. It is, in the end, a 'virtual' network. Even if it is your friend of 15 years, or even a high school teacher, the absence of face to face 'connection' or accountability to your actions frequently creates situations that you wish you had rather not.

4. Facebook updates create a faux impression of 'look his/her world is better than mine!!' And most of us, unbeknownst to the science (or योग) of discerning reality from a seemingly impractical portrait of life, are caught between meeting it, or beating it. In either case, you are spending more energy than needed focusing on useless things and thoughts:-)

3. With your long lost pals and school connections on one side, and the 'new' age friends on the other, you find yourself caught in a cobweb of falsely 'safe' world. You keep living the virtual life your friends/family know you from, yet there is this fantasy world you always imagined, and FB is giving you that platform to shoot it, to live it. Dilemma:-)

2.You, as a user, are NOT in control over how much of your content is public, and by whom. It is Facebook that determines under the camouflage of ToU and new feature upgrades how 'your' data/content is organized and presented.

1. Your 'friends' from the FB friend list, at least the ones that do care to stay in touch with you,  probably already have other ways of reaching you outside if FB. And those that do not wish to stay connected in 'real' life, well, they are not real life friends - are they?:-)

So take that hacksaw out. And you know what to do next - for I feel liberated. And so will you:-)

Good luck!

6 comments:

  1. DPD bro: there is more to life than what appears on Facebook:-) Let us stay in touch... you are in my G+ list.

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  2. Well written Prash! But aren't the above reasons applicable to Google+ as well?

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  4. Vijaya,

    Valid point. On G+, so far the tags/posts are a little more meaningful, and the 'circles' concept is more solid than the FB friend lists since Google is not constantly changing how/who sees our pics/photos.

    In my opinion, having a larger than life audience (FB) causes part of the damage to interactions. I am yet to see people saying things they normally won't on G+, I have done that in the past myself - guilty. I do not wish to engage in a virtual mode of communication if I cannot behave the same way in person.

    Your point is still valid. G+ potentially has the same pitfalls. So far, it has been untouched though. My circles mostly only have people I know in person:-) plus the ones that truly matter that will find me here, or I will find them:-)

    Thanks for the comment!

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  5. On a different note, loved your blog. Got to say, I saw a totally different side of you through it. :)

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