The time is almost here: the day I delete my Facebook. It's something I've been planning to do for a couple of months, but somehow I still have an account. I check it about once every two weeks, and all of my photos have been transferred to a file on my computer. I'm not trying to make some anti-society point by deleting the account like some people. I don't mind being a part of a huge commercial mass. my reasons are more practical than that, and mostly stem from paranoia.
First, I fear that employers looking at my Facebook will see my as unfit to hold any sort of responsibility. Facebook has painted a slanted portrait of my life. The only time I appear in photos is when I'm at a party. I rarely find my way in front of a camera when I'm sober. The result? Looking through my Facebook pictures, someone would assume I was a sloppy drunk who does nothing but attend theme parties. Instead of sorting through the photos and untagging the ones that have a beer in them, I'm choosing to delete my account. Keeping it would leave me with about six photos and a list of friends, most of which I can hardly remember.
Second, I don't like my information being harvested and sold to advertisers. I do have a Gmail account, and I know they do something similar. However, my Gmail account doesn't have my interests listed, connected to photos of me. The fact that people are extracting information from my life and analyzing it in order to sell products to me through increasingly invasive means really bothers me, and I'll choose not to participate.
Good for you, man. When's the last time anyone heard someone say, "Oh man, I had such a productive and worthwhile time on Facebook" ?
ReplyDeleteBye-bye, Book. Zorched my account a few months ago. No sloppy-drunk pics, but whack-job family members dragging their drama onto the web via FBook. Was like an episode of Jerry Springer - only thing missing was some classy gal with three teeth lifting her shirt.
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