I second this notion. It's amazing how, even on a technically literate forum like HN, the posters around here make the same arguments that they /need/ FB to stay connected.
Im five years clean from FB and have never looked back.
It is absolutely possible to maintain communication with friends and family without Mr Zuckerberg's spy system.
I encourage those of you who think it's a necessity to please try to spend even a few months off of it. We'll never escape our dystopia when even those who understand the dangers refuse to put down the social network drug.
FB distorts how you perceive the world, including how you perceive a possible life without it.
I'll place extra emphasis on this, for those that are hesitant. Just give it a try for a few months, and if you want to go back that is always an option. Right in time for New Year's Resolutions: go "Facebook free" for a whole 30 days. If it's not for you, that's fine, re-install / re-activate and there wasn't much to lose. But you can't know the alternatives without trying!
I quit Facebook years back because I somehow just realized that it provided no value to me. Keeping in contact with my real friends was something that could either be done in person, by text message, email, etc. Then add on top of that a lot of content is just noise, rather than wholesome original thought. Original posts are down... more people are just re-sharing crap from large groups. IMO Facebook is just a glorified, yet heavily stripped down, email client that allows people you didn't directly message to be dragged in too.
I think people by-and-large see Facebook as something larger and more praise-worthy than it actually is. There is a lot of mainstream hype around the platform that is strange from someone like me on the outside (because I quit). Maybe it is mystical because it's a story of a college student becoming a billionaire so quickly, and it gives people the impression that if someone so young got so much money in such a short amount of time, then the platform must be that good.
"Facebook can never be a tool that you use as needed and everything has to be a 1984 horrorshow"
Oh, please. My circle of friends uses it extensively to plan gatherings and such because it's fairly easy and most everyone has it. Most of us don't post very much or spend all that much time on the platform. I'm glad that you and all of the others who have managed to see beyond the seventh veil by deleting Facebook are doing well by it, and I also have my dislikes and reservations about the platform, but most of those are easily assuaged by simply not posting and browsing the news feed.
Im five years clean from FB and have never looked back.
It is absolutely possible to maintain communication with friends and family without Mr Zuckerberg's spy system.
I encourage those of you who think it's a necessity to please try to spend even a few months off of it. We'll never escape our dystopia when even those who understand the dangers refuse to put down the social network drug.
FB distorts how you perceive the world, including how you perceive a possible life without it.