Sayonara, Facebook!

Update! Went back to Facebook. I was archiving nothing but socially isolating myself.

I have made the decision to leave Facebook. This is because of their recent changes in the way privacy is handled and the outrageous defaulting of every user who had not changed their Facebook settings from the defaults before the change to having everything publicly accessible. I’m also beginning to dislike the tone Facebook and it’s representatives are using both in the user interface, interviews and official communications. I have posted two of these below.

Interview with Elliot Schrage, Vice-president of Privacy at Facebook:

“Everything is opt-in on Facebook. Participating in the service is a choice. We want people to continue to choose Facebook every day. Adding information — uploading photos or posting status updates or “like” a Page — are also all opt-in. Please don’t share if you’re not comfortable. That said, we certainly will continue to work to improve the ease and access of controls to make more people more comfortable. Your assumption about our assumption is simply incorrect. We don’t believe that. We’re happy to make the record on that clear.”

The deactivate account page at Facebook:

Are you sure you want to deactivate your account?
Your 81 friends will no longer be able to keep in touch with you.

What This Means for My Facebook Friends:

  • I will no longer be seen around Facebook, primarily on your wall but also anywhere else that I would otherwise interact with you.
  • You can no longer post on my wall.
  • I will no longer respond to your pokes or other requests.
  • You can continue to use the events function to invite me to events however I am unlikely to respond in the comments area to anything regarding the event. I will make an effort to get in contact via email however.
  • You can also continue to send messages to me via Facebook. Again, however I will respond via email. If I don’t have your email, the contents of my message that I respond with will be a request for your email address. I would prefer you use the contact form on this blog instead.
  • Web Fiction Authors: I have de-fanned your pages. I continue to be a fan of your work, but it was necessary for me to truly leave Facebook to the extent which I can.

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Posted May 16th, 2010 in Internet - 29 Comments »