Deleted (Deactivated) my Facebook Account

[usmarine1975]

Yea I know this may not be that Bad Ass.  But I am pretty proud of myself for doing so.  Now any minutes that I would have spent in the past reading what other people are doing or posting what I am doing I can now use to do work around the house, spend time with my son soon to be children, spend with my wife, or spend analyzing our budgets and our investments and becoming more financially independent.

So hopefully I don't find myself posting on here more to make up for it but if I do you know why.

[Cheddar Stacker]

Nice work. I made a pre-emptive attack on this front and just never activated one. Hopefully you'll find more meaningful use of your time, like the family time you mentioned.

[greenmimama]

I think this is pretty BA, but that may be because I spend way too much time on there.

[shotgunwilly]

Don't let anyone try and convince you that this isn't extremely badass. (You will indeed have the naysayers who are enslaved by facebook.)  I did the same about 2 years ago.  Be prepared to feel amazingly free.

[dude]

It's B.A. for sure.  Not sure I could do it -- it's like crack to me.  But I do try to limit my time on there.  I'd like to tackle getting rid of cable first (wife is not in favor of this)!

[Datastache]

Although I've cut back significantly on how much I participate on FB, I still check my news feed multiple times every day. Sometimes I consider just deactivating, too. Not sure I'm quite that badass yet, but I'll probably get there eventually. Good on you for making it! :)

[Grid]

I've deactivated 3 total times and am currently in a deactivated stage, with no real plans to return.   I liked FB mostly for its use to set up events with friends.  Now when I'm invited or inviting people to a get-together, it's by text or phone, which are much more personal forms of communication.  People are also more likely to want to go to an event when invited that way.  Enjoy your free time, usmarine!  No FB is part of the low-information, low-distraction, low-advertisement diet.

[usmarine1975]

I debated it for a time, concerns with personal information not being personal anymore etc...  Also found lately spending too much time looking at the phone app.  I had deleted the app from my phone a couple times but it's to easy to add it back.  I went through a friend cleansing and kept facebook under the thought that I get to keep in contact with people that I normally would not but the reality is I just stalk them and have no real relationship with them.  So in reality for me it was no different then watching a soap opera.  Took a couple days to delete all of my photos and save them if I didn't have them already.  And today I hit deactivate. 

I also disliked how some (family) members felt I ignored them or hid my profile from them because I didn't show up in their news feed.  Facebook free 5 hours now and I guess it is pretty bad ass.

I am planning to stay deactivated. 

[Neustache]

Ugh..I need to do this!  Definitely Bad Ass.  I'm a SAHM, so FB is nice as I get to interact with folks on there from all over (I'm a part of secret FB groups with just ladies on it, and we chat throughout the day) BUT it's also a huge time drain and I could be doing more productive things like baking bread or making jam, things that fill me with a sense of accomplishment and my kids love it.  I go back and forth on this.  I have unfollowed (but not unfriended) anyone who I might be tempted to debate because FB debates are lame and not fun. 

[ArbitraryGuy]

Good job!  Late last year, I found that my feed was filled up with advertisements, political bickering, updates from people I don't care about, and click-bait news stories of no relevance to my life.  And yet, I checked Facebook a billion times per day.

As a remedy, at the beginning of this year, I deleted Facebook from my phone and used a random password generator to give my Facebook account a password I could not memorize.  This password is written on an index card in another room and I use it to log in on my laptop only when needed (to look up a birthday, find contact info, send a message, etc).  I always log out.

I've freed up a substantial portion of my day by doing this.

[nushagak]

Yea I know this may not be that Bad Ass.  But I am pretty proud of myself for doing so.  Now any minutes that I would have spent in the past reading what other people are doing or posting what I am doing I can now use to do work around the house, spend time with my son soon to be children, spend with my wife, or spend analyzing our budgets and our investments and becoming more financially independent.

So hopefully I don't find myself posting on here more to make up for it but if I do you know why.

High Five OP. That is some outstanding work. It's really hard to cut yourself off - but I think you will find plenty of new stuff to fill that time. I am super happy for you and will be there myself shortly.

Good job!  Late last year, I found that my feed was filled up with advertisements, political bickering, updates from people I don't care about, and click-bait news stories of no relevance to my life.  And yet, I checked Facebook a billion times per day.

As a remedy, at the beginning of this year, I deleted Facebook from my phone and used a random password generator to give my Facebook account a password I could not memorize.  This password is written on an index card in another room and I use it to log in on my laptop only when needed (to look up a birthday, find contact info, send a message, etc).  I always log out.

I've freed up a substantial portion of my day by doing this.

^ This is the approach I have taken. I manage several facebook pages for work and can't outright delete it, but I've already found that by eliminating the app from my phone altogether (which I highly recommend you guys do if you read their latest terms of service) and adopting that 12 digit string of characters that MMM recommends, then having to go look it up somewhere external to your computer really, really makes you think twice about whether you want to check out FB.

Basically: keep putting obstacles in the way of things that don't actually make you happier, healthier, or wealthier - and keep removing obstacles from the things that do.

[oldtoyota]

Congrats for getting off the FB crack!

I am experimenting with using FB just once per day. The NYT had an article about constantly looking at social media is not great for our brains. The suggestion is to batch tasks, including email. Email distractions are no better than Facebook distractions, so maybe you want to cut down on the email too.

Since I cut mobile web from my phone, I use FB a lot less often. It's freedom.

Good luck!

[Icecreamarsenal]

Good job; I've 'ignored' most people on Facebook so they don't show up on my feed. There are some acquaintances who are up to amazing things, though. I use it to see if anyone has something I need, or suggestions on things to do in new cities.

[Daisy]

Congratulations! Seems like I may have saved a lot of time in my life by avoiding it completely. Sure, I get snickers from people, but I tell them I would never put anything about myself on there anyways. I would only go on to snoop on ex-boyfriends anyways, and ain't nobody got time for that!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh7UgAprdpM

I just don't need another distraction to distract me away from the MMM forums that already distract me from other things in my life. ;-)

Plus, I've read over on the "Overheard on Facebook" thread about friends asking people to fund their fun exploits. Again, ain't nobody got time for that! Just sing that tune in your head every time you feel the urge to log on to FB.

[vern]

Congratulations '75!  Welcome to the real world!

Cheddar...I thought I was the only one who never drank the kool aid!

[Michael792]

Congrats!

I never wanted one, just got it because my (now) ex wanted me to. Didn't use it for three years, but now it's the only way I'm able to communicate across continents with a lot of people. :/ Unfortunately can't figure out an alternative to it.

[Dicey]

Early on in the life of FB, I had friends who gave it up for Lent, I kid you not. I figured it would just be a whole lot easier not to pick up that crack pipe in the first place. Glad to report I'm living happily ever after without it.

[usmarine1975]

I debated de activating for the last year or so.  My excuse for not doing so was being able to keep in contact (to stalk) those I normally would not. Truth is a relationship didn't exist. Biggest kicker for me is as of late its news articles that you have to validate and a way to post or brag about oneself or post your drama. Almost 24 he's still feeling good about it.

[Theadyn]

I've been threatening to do this very thing myself.  Have already deleted the app from phone when I got mad at coworkers standing around all the time with their nose to their phone while I did all the work.  And really, is there really anything on there that improves YOUR life?  That's not even mentioning all the advertisements we are hit with on there. 

I'm inspired, and going to go deactivate mine right now!  Woot!!

[usmarine1975]

Thank you all for making me feel BAD ASS.  When I told my wife that I had deactivated my account she asked me how I felt.  I was able to tell her "BAD ASS". 

I should admit that I do have a LinkedIn account which I feel has value as far as work and my professional life goes so I won't be deleting it.  Also I don't find myself hovering over Linked IN to see what's happening.  I have a Google + account which I don't really use save occasional glances. 

I do not have a Twitter, Instagram, or any of the other social media's.  The 2 above are the only ones I will keep at this point unless they start to present a problem. 

Last night I didn't spend a lot of time on my phone.  I simply went to bed.  I don't know what Joe Schmo had for dinner, nor do I really care at this point.  Feeling great about my decision.

Glad I could help to inspire.

[FrugalSpendthrift]

I thought I took a big step deleting the app from my phone, but now you are tempting me to take it a step further.

[fallstoclimb]

To be honest I don't really get the facebook hate.  I just aggressively unfollow anyone I find to be annoying or boring, so my feed is basically limited to my really funny and insightful friends, and from there I see it as a useful social tool.  My husband does seem to have a minor problem with it though -- will get on his phone the second he's free. 

[EarlyRetirementGuy]

Now facebook has split the chat functionality into a separate APP I just stick to using that. Means I can still speak to people without having to read the constant stream of rubbish being posted onto walls/timelines.

[usmarine1975]

No Hate on my end.  For me it's just been a time waster and one with little benefit.  My post is not meant to bash anyone that has, or is currently using Facebook.  No Hate intended here.

[shotgunwilly]

Feeling great about my decision.

This feeling grows.  At some point, maybe a year down the road, you may feel like your "missing out" when you hear people talking about it or see people on it, etc.  (atleast from my experience.)  Trust me on this one... You are not missing out.  The very week you reactivate your account you will immediately realize what a good choice it was to deactivate it, and what a waste it really is.

Congrats on your badassity.

[Thegoblinchief]

See, I probably spend less than 10 minutes in a week on FB, so I've never gotten the whole addiction thing. It's a useful tool to share news and hear about the few out of state friends I care about.

[mak1277]

I've never had Facebook and never will.  All the friends that I care to correspond with know my phone number...I've found that's plenty of information for us to share important news.

I suppose it helps that I'm fairly anti-social to begin with....but I have never once wished I had a FB account. 

[shadowmoss]

I also never have had a FB account.  I get my online fix via my blog and reading others' blogs.  Listening to a friend muss about the personal things her adult son's girlfriend put up on the wall made me realize I never, ever want to be part of that madness.  There are some things about adult children that parents don't  need to know.

[Icecreamarsenal]

I'm making baby steps towards complete uninvolvement. I have no email notifications, and my primary interaction with the service is through the iPhone app. Just moved that icon from the first page to the last page of my phone.
I anticipate using fb for social media promotion of my restaurant, but I think I can do that a through my laptop.
Alright f it, I'll delete the app right now.

[usmarine1975]

I am glad I posted this, at first I hesitated as it seemed to be a bit of a silly post.  But for me it was a direct bad ass change.  My wife still can't believe that I have done it.  Partially because FB takes 30 days to finalize your deactivation.  It's great to hear the different sides.  Even those who have face book and have no problem using it.  For me this post was more about my own decision to disconnect not a judgement on having or not having face book.

[DrJohn]

Facebook=Time suck. Enough said.

[Runge]

I am glad I posted this, at first I hesitated as it seemed to be a bit of a silly post.  But for me it was a direct bad ass change.  My wife still can't believe that I have done it.  Partially because FB takes 30 days to finalize your deactivation.  It's great to hear the different sides.  Even those who have face book and have no problem using it.  For me this post was more about my own decision to disconnect not a judgement on having or not having face book.

Seriously, it's totally bad ass. I'm going on 1.5 years of no facebook, and it has seriously been a huge relief to not have that time suck draining me. I was one who would just sit there and creep on people for hours a day without ever posting anything. Plus I grew more and more uncomfortable sharing activities and pictures about my life that openly on the internet. So instead of just deactivating, I straight up deleted that sucker. It's not easy to find, but here's a helpful guide.
http://www.wikihow.com/Permanently-Delete-a-Facebook-Account

[Grid]

Partially because FB takes 30 days to finalize your deactivation. 

Wait what?  Have they changed things?  Each of the times I deactivated, I always received a "everything will be exactly as you left it" email regarding what it would be like if I tried to log back in.  In that sense "deactivation" was never more than a psychological process for the FBer.  Has that really changed?

[usmarine1975]

Thanks for the info.  I wasn't aware that you had to actually manually delete the account.  I assumed or thought that deactivating would lead to deletion.  Good to know.  I am now going to Delete my FB Account.

[Runge]

There's two ways you can disable your account. One is deactivation where it keeps everything stored on it's servers, but no one can see any of it.

The other is deletion, where it deletes basically everything, minus a few certain things such as messages to people. FB makes it hard to find where the deletion button is deliberately, but they do provide the service.

[Serve&Volley88]

This thread has prompted me to delete the Facebook app from my phone. I've done it in the past but always re-install at some point. I'm determined to stick with it this time.

Congrats on getting off of the FB hamster wheel.

[usmarine1975]

One week until my FB account is permanently deleted.  Still going strong and free from the FB world.

[NCGal]

Congrats and thank you for posting about this. Earlier today I was talking about doing the same and this is the kick in the pants I need. I`m not on FB very much but I resent all the different marketing strategies behind the scenes, working to get us to fork over money. I`m also tired of the self-aggrandizing photos of dreck. If I see one more photo of some slop prepared by someone`s kid, I`m going to barf. The one positive that came out if it was reconnecting with a group of friends I had from grade school through high school. The relationships aren`t strong enough to last beyond FB-at least I don`t think they are. But I`m considering a post about my eminent departure and offering a hotmail addy to anyone who wants to keep in touch.
 

[Cheddar Stacker]

First time I've seen the word dreck used on this forum.

First time I've ever seen/heard anyone truncate address with "addy"

Love it! Very strong NCGal.

[kite]

It's bad ass.
Quit cold turkey myself 8 weeks ago.   I've got no clue what my niece's boyfriend had for lunch yesterday,  what my MIL thinks the about the events in Ferguson or which of my friends has done the ice bucket challenge.    I also don't know what snake oil Dr. Oz is peddling this week.   Quite nice to be out of the loop, and I've reached an age where I've no desire to keep up to date on that stuff.   

[NCGal]

Cheddar- I can say `Y'all` and `We sure do` eat grits and drink sweet tea like a good southerner. But the Brooklyn in me just won`t leave! I say the F word alot too but haven`t put it in writing...
The most troubling thing so far is the danger posed by sharing your life on FB. My neighbor, a single woman, constantly posts while she`s out of town with no one minding the store. It`s probably worse when she posts on the rare nights she`s home (she practucally chronicles her steps from room to room, rather than posting photos from every exhilarating place she`s at other times). Anyone can figure out where she lives.

[SJS]

This just may be the last push I needed to do the same.....WAY TOO MUCH TIME of my life is wasted looking at everyone else and how they are living their life!  It's time I can't get back, so need to spend it a little more carefully (kind of like money!!). 

[Simple Abundant Living]

I use FB to keep in touch with friends, but I also use it to get news ( NPR, PBS, and local), sell my unwanted items (local facebook yardsale sites).  If I only used it to see which on my HS friends were doing the ice-bucket challenge, I'd delete it!

[prudent_one]

I don't think FB is useless but on balance it's a negative. I never had a FB profile and have gotten some crap about it from friends and family, but it's been a long time since anyone griped at me about it.

On another forum I read about someone that was wondering how he is suddenly using orders of magnitude more data on his phone when he hasn't changed anything about his usage, and it turned out the FB app now autoplays videos.  It sounded like the only way to avoid all that data usage was to not use FB on his phone.

[Prepube]

I de activated my FB  few years ago.  I have no friends and nobody likes me, anyway.  But, I almost immediately realized after deactivating that several things I like either required or were, unbeknownst to me, connected to my account.  So I made up a name, gave him an address and birthday and all that, and now I can play poker and candy crush, listen to pandora, etc without giving my personal information to a company I do not trust.  I have just never really understood why everyone thinks everyone else gives a shit what they are doing today, or who they are with, etc.  Twitter is equally baffling to me except as a marketing tool.  And wtf is LinkedIn, really?  Why do people I have never met endorse my skills in areas I will never share with them? 

[usmarine1975]

I have a LinkedIn account but only occasionally look at it and update the profile for professional reasons.  I never was really a twitter person or whatever you call them or any of the other apps.  I have a google account but really don't use it either.  I found FB to take the personal relationship out of things.  I justified it saying I could keep in contact with those I normally wouldn't but the reality is I just stalked them and what value does that really bring to my own life.  And I don't need to get into the arguments on FB nor do I need to tell everyone where I am going, what I am doing, and who I am with.  I have a phone with a number and those that are close enough to me, have that number and know where I live.  I don't condemn FB I just decided it wasted my time more so than enhancing my life.  It really is a personal decision.  And I was surprised by the things I had linked to my FB account. 

I don't play candy crush or any of that either.  I don't miss it.

[Spartana]

Nice work. I made a pre-emptive attack on this front and just never activated one. Hopefully you'll find more meaningful use of your time, like the family time you mentioned.

Ditto for me too - although a long time ago I set up a "dummy" FB account (not my real name, separate e-mail address, etc..) so I could check it all out and see what other's were up to (spy!). Convinced me not to set up a real one. I think it would be a huge time suck and potential invasion of privacy and think the OP is truly BA for closing his/her FB account.

[KBlynx]

I deleted FB about a year ago, and while I miss it just a tiny bit, I feel so much better for not using it. " Compassion is the thief of joy"
I've read articles detailing how much worse people tend to feel after using FB, and I agree. Why use something that makes me feel less happy!?

[stlbrah]

I deleted mine a while back. I just don't like other people knowing what I'm up to all the time, and I don't care about others' "swag" pictures. I would rather read the many technology sites and financial sites I check daily.

[usmarine1975]

Almost a month with no FB. And I like it.