Comments on: On leaving Facebook

By: Lorina

Lorina — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 22:04:59 +0000

Thumbs up!!

By: Kristen McLean

Kristen McLean — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 13:51:14 +0000

@Seedsaver1491: back in 2010 MetaFilter user blue_beetle accurately observed that “if you’re not paying for something, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold”.

Generally, Any mainstream site that offers free services has a business model that monetizes you in some way, either by showing you ads, or by mining your data. Google does both. So does Facebook. The question becomes whether you think the entity providing the service is one you want to engage with, and whether the cost-benefit analysis works in your favor. Clearly Sean has made his decision.

I’d happily pay a reasonable price for services that don’t monetize me in these ways, but I seem to be in the minority. Study after study has shown that the majority of people would rather take the ads/privacy hit than pay for a service.

By: seedsaver1491

seedsaver1491 — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 15:32:48 +0000

Is there any place or way to have an account, mail, internet server, blog, website, etc that is free of data mining by those other than with permissions??? Not one to know much about this but I am in the process of deleteing my FB because too many personas that are industry or gov trolls. Posing as FB friends, also FB deleted all my FB friends that it had collected enough information to compare with my information TO KNOW THAT OUR “interests” were dissimilar. How presumptuous that I would like to hear from people only with my interests, or rather my public view on certain topics, like nuclear!

By: Leaving Facebook? « Explanation « ned tobin || blog

Leaving Facebook? « Explanation « ned tobin || blog — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 01:14:20 +0000

[...] From here, I went on to read Sean Bonner’s On Leaving Facebook. [...]

By: Jonas

Jonas — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 23:07:58 +0000

Thanks for this article and thanks for linking to rield's Facebook article. I love to see people becoming more aware.

By: David Bear

David Bear — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 18:32:00 +0000

Hi, Sean. As regards Facebook, I really have to agree with you; although I have to admit I hadn’t thought about all the details that you have delineated about their actions/activities. I just had a sort of intuitive sense that I didn’t trust FB. A few years ago, I had three accounts there – but only so I could run three CafeWorld games and three FarmVille games. I have long since given up on that stuff because, just like you have said, FB did not respect its users (I know the games are actually Zynga, but the two of them are hand-in-hand when it comes to respecting the users). So, I dumped one account (deactivated) and like you say I was informed that if I ever wanted to go back to it, I could without any loss of status for that account. I haven’t used the second account in more than 2 years. The third account (my primary one, actually) I only go there about once every 3 days. I don’t post much of anything and I rarely use it as a way to communicate with ‘friends’.
Overall, I’ve come to the conclusion that FB is a giant pile of garbage (I’m being so nice). FB displays advertisements which indicate that ‘friends’ ‘like’ a certain product or game or whatever, even when I know that it’s not true.
I am glad to know that I’m not the only one out there who thinks FB is less than totally honorable.

By: Tracey Rolandelli

Tracey Rolandelli — Wed, 23 May 2012 08:45:19 +0000

Great post on this. I am in the same boat, debating whether to delete my account, and for the same reasons. I have never posted anything that would be embarrassing to begin with, so it’s not about pictures of myself drunk half naked or anything…I use it mostly for my artwork, and a private account for friends and family. Going to think on this…

By: FID

FID — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:31:35 +0000

Facebook Independence Day: Log off and move on by July 4th http://tinyurl.com/fid2012

By: Sioen Roux

Sioen Roux — Sat, 19 May 2012 08:00:26 +0000

Thanks for being the punk, or the final straw, or the right words at the right time.

These words were the ones that pushed me right over the edge:

“Usage is implied consent. Usage is passive support.

I don’t consent to this and I can’t support it. Facebook is bad for the web, and it’s bad for people. I can’t keep ignoring that.”

I’ve let my friends know, and tomorrow at noon, I push the kill button on my Facebook account.

Thanks again!

By: Oroboros

Oroboros — Sat, 19 May 2012 07:59:27 +0000

Solid blog.

I quit FB for different reasons in 2010:
Too much time wasted.
Too much ignorance from friends.

Has anyone tried Glassboard app? Seems more private than any social media app so far.