Author Topic: Be free of Facebook for all of February.  (Read 5382 times)

alsoknownasDean

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Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« on: January 31, 2016, 05:16:45 AM »
I've decided that I no longer enjoy using Facebook and often visit it compulsively.

Time for a Facebook free February.

As a result, I've just deactivated my account, and will stay off Facebook until the 1st of March.

Who's in with me? :)

ZiziPB

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2016, 05:23:04 AM »
I'm with you by default because I deleted my Facebook account back in December.  I reached the same conclusion as you did that Facebook added zero value to my life.  And I was annoyed by the constant barrage of advertising that Facebook has become.  I haven't missed it or regretted it one bit.  Good luck!  Hopefully by the end of February you will realize that Facebook is now the equivalent of cable TV - just a means of selling products through advertising.

alsoknownasDean

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2016, 05:25:50 AM »
I'm with you by default because I deleted my Facebook account back in December.  I reached the same conclusion as you did that Facebook added zero value to my life.  And I was annoyed by the constant barrage of advertising that Facebook has become.  I haven't missed it or regretted it one bit.  Good luck!  Hopefully by the end of February you will realize that Facebook is now the equivalent of cable TV - just a means of selling products through advertising.

Nice one :)

There's still people there who I'd want to keep in touch with, but I guess I just have to work out whether I'd want to keep in touch badly enough to get their email address or phone number.

I've really not enjoyed Facebook for a little while. I'd rather spend my time doing more productive and interesting things.

I've got a bit of work to do. Just a few minutes ago, I opened my browser and typed in facebook.com and was met with the login screen.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2016, 05:27:26 AM by alsoknownasDean »

misterhorsey

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2016, 05:38:14 AM »
I feel the same way about facebook.  But I felt that deactivating did shut me out of a number of social activities.  Some people really do use facebook as their default communication platform.

One solution I have trialled for the past few months is to stop all notifications from all facebook pages and friends.  That way you don't have to
- see useless information from people you care about,
- see significant/important moments from people you don't care about! 

But you can still be invited to events, get sent messages and photos etc etc.

Its working for me at the moment.


alleykat

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2016, 07:13:47 AM »
Count me in.  I am not a big Facebook person anyway, but find myself going there when I am bored and then waste time by logging in. I haven't been able to close my account yet, but maybe I will.  I really don't do much on there so this should be an easy challenge.  Now, I just have to remember not to log in.

rageth

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #5 on: January 31, 2016, 10:19:10 AM »
You know, with all the other obligations I have and more productive things I could do without it, I'd like to try this. I'm in! Good luck to everyone, like others have said it's almost a compulsion.

alsoknownasDean

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #6 on: February 01, 2016, 01:09:10 AM »
Oops, so I've hit a snag...

My Facebook account is my Spotify login.

I'm either going to have to give up Spotify too or change my Spotify account to a different login :)

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thatbrowncat

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #7 on: February 01, 2016, 01:23:30 AM »
I checked my facebook account for 1 minute (it's february 1 here in the Philippines), so I can't be "free of facebook" for all of february.

But I do agree that I find facebook to be a time monster! I would check my account and scroll through the feed... only to discover that I had burned 1 hour of my time. 

Doing what?

Browsing my friends' selfies with irrelevant captions. Browsing my friends' post pictures why they are the luckiest person because they have this and that.

I was browsing and I felt pity because I didn't have what they were flaunting.

I did deactivate my facebook for 2 or 3 months. I didn't miss it, and I pursued other endeavors. eventually, I re-activated my account.

The experience of being facebook-free taught me to be more deliberate with social media.

tj

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #8 on: February 01, 2016, 07:51:41 PM »
I'm with you by default because I deleted my Facebook account back in December.  I reached the same conclusion as you did that Facebook added zero value to my life.  And I was annoyed by the constant barrage of advertising that Facebook has become.  I haven't missed it or regretted it one bit.  Good luck!  Hopefully by the end of February you will realize that Facebook is now the equivalent of cable TV - just a means of selling products through advertising.

Another one with you by default - I deleted my Facebook account a while back. Despite what many seem to think, you can still keep in touch with friends without it!

The only reason I keep Facebook is because it's the primary method of communication for a lot of my social sports. I don't like mass texting, so it's easier to just use FB. I'd probably be marketed to lose if I ddin't use facebook, but I'd also probably even less of a social life which is already pretty barren....

Stasher

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #9 on: February 01, 2016, 08:02:08 PM »
I feel some doing capitalize on the power of Facebook if you find now value in it.

 - I connect with fellow Climbers/Hikers on the local area pages
 - I interact with all our mountain bikes enthusiasts for our trail maintenance , ride days and event via our Facebook group page
 - I share all my photos , trip reports, blog posts and activities allowing me
 - I interact with large groups for charity & environmental activism that concern me and my local community

Much like the MMM way , if you surround yourself with similar people to what interests you and avoid all the garbage then the path becomes simple and clear. I think you get out of it what you put into it.

Lastly I feel Facebook groups have replaced many forums that existed say 10 years ago, the MMM forums to me are an exception to the rule.

I won't be deleting Facebook anytime soon.

rockstache

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #10 on: February 01, 2016, 08:05:37 PM »

Facebook is now the equivalent of cable TV - just a means of selling products through advertising.

 I cannot imagine what you mean by this. You actually had ads in your FB??Aside from a few people who tried to hit me up for an MLM (who were quickly defriended), I have never seen any advertising or selling. Everyone in my news feed is someone I care about.

tj

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #11 on: February 01, 2016, 08:10:00 PM »

Facebook is now the equivalent of cable TV - just a means of selling products through advertising.

 I cannot imagine what you mean by this. You actually had ads in your FB??Aside from a few people who tried to hit me up for an MLM (who were quickly defriended), I have never seen any advertising or selling. Everyone in my news feed is someone I care about.

I get "sponsored posts" all the time. On Twitter too. Annoying.

rockstache

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #12 on: February 02, 2016, 07:41:57 AM »
Wow that sucks. I do see them on Twitter but I hardly ever use Twitter except to follow travel hacking deal sites so I don't really mind.

MandalayVA

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #13 on: February 02, 2016, 09:47:06 AM »
If it wasn't for Facebook I'd never hear from some people.  However, I only visit it when someone mentions me or messages me directly.

zephyr911

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #14 on: February 02, 2016, 10:19:30 AM »
I know I'm a big whiny bitch, but I literally can't even imagine doing this.

Wow. Says a lot, I guess.

ptgearguy

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #15 on: February 03, 2016, 08:25:36 AM »
Already done. I have an account but never use it. I like it because it reminds me of birthdays on my phones calender.

alsoknownasDean

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #16 on: February 06, 2016, 05:07:08 PM »
One thing I've noticed so far after ditching Facebook is that my phone's data use has dropped dramatically.

I haven't really missed it, although I do keep compulsively going to the Facebook site, especially on my laptop.

simplertimes

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #17 on: February 06, 2016, 05:30:01 PM »
I deleted my Facebook account a year ago and never looked back.  I realized it was entirely FAKE. People gravitate to Facebook looking for a sense of connection, but all they end up giving/receiving is attention.  These are two very different things!

Since canceling my account I have not heard from a single aunt/uncle/cousin of mine, even though I made sure to give them all my email address.  Even several friends that I was extremely close to prior to moving out of state, who suddenly became too busy to agree to call/skype/email me no longer reached out once I canceled. 

These one-sided relationships became incredibly apparent after canceling Facebook.  "Liking" a photo of my kids is not the same as keeping in touch with me, caring about me, and wanting to know how I'm doing.  Facebook enabled me to pretend like these people care about me, and ignore the fact that I was doing most of the reaching out (i.e. messaging friends through Facebook and awaiting their reply).  It also enabled these people to pretend they care!

Now I focus on relationships with people who are willing and able to make time for me in real life.  Neighbor friends who get together to make pizza, church friends who ask how I'm doing when I see them, my sister who is eager to set up a video call to talk to me and the kids, etc.

aFrugalFather

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #18 on: February 06, 2016, 05:34:02 PM »
My facebook was deactivated most of last year, but recently I've been getting rid of clutter around the house and I find the facebook local for sale group is the quickest way to get rid of big cheap stuff.  Craiglist has too many flakes and its nice to deal within the local community.  Once I'm done though I'll be off FB again. 

alsoknownasDean

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #19 on: February 23, 2016, 12:53:53 AM »
So far so good. Aside from a couple of groups and my Spotify login, I've honestly not really missed it.

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alleykat

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #20 on: February 23, 2016, 05:24:22 AM »
I thank you for this challenge. Ni don't do a whole lot on Facebook anyway but do login out of boredom sometimes.  It has really made me see how many times I had the urge to login, which to my surprise wasn't much but still those times the urge was strong.  I haven't signed in once.

Now, I need to maybe do a YouTube challenge for March.  I turn to YouTube way too many times. I want to use only for necessary learning and my Greek shows.  I watch way too many useless and meaningless things.  It's a boredom thing and a time waster.  I need to cut this out.  This one will be tough.

alsoknownasDean

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #21 on: March 03, 2016, 04:48:07 AM »
Success!

Although I just reactivated it, looked over it for five minutes or so, and realised I hadn't really missed it all that much.

alleykat

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #22 on: March 03, 2016, 06:18:05 AM »
Didn't log in once, even though a couple of times I wanted to.  I think I will carry this into March. 

So, success. 

sea

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Re: Be free of Facebook for all of February.
« Reply #23 on: March 28, 2016, 01:59:13 PM »
I did in February just on a whim.  It worked out well.