Deactivating Facebook.

I was surprised at the response I got on twitter and here regarding my decision to deactivate my Facebook account. Are so many of you really considering it?


At the end of the day what made the decision for me was the simple fact it was not adding much value to my life. So as my days are getting busier thats just one less thing to distract me. Now for those of you considering it but too scared to make the cut I'll let you in on a little secret for the uninitiated. Its still there ... your Facebook account, in cyberspace limbo. Yes it is.

I have done this before. I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. When you deactivate your account it still stays there, somewhere, just as you left it, so if you decide you have made a mistake you just sign back in and there it is. Now when I say I have done it before I don't willy nilly chop and change, my absences can stretch years before I decide I want to go back.
This may seem pointless to some of you guys but for me its in the decision to make the break. I remove the book marks from my browser and have in effect removed the temptation, there is something empowering in the knowing I deactivated it that stops me from signing back in. Still having it there and telling myself to not use it would not work for me personally.

If you were to decide to cull one thing from your online time, the thing that added least value to your days what would it be?

Comments

  1. Oh, Tammy - I have been considering deactivating my personal Facebook account for sometime. The only thing stopping me is there are a few people I am linked in with there who "knew me when". I see it as my way of bumping into them like I might in the shopping centre had we still all lived in the same town.

    Maybe your post here is another nail in the coffin for my facebook account? Hmmm - very tempting to click on "deactivate".

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  2. I took a break the other month but could not de-activate it completely because of my roles as an admin on two very important pages for me. You lose that connection with the de-activation. I managed a full week (long time for me) without peeking but have found since i returned i am using it less anyway.
    Mxo

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  3. Oh how I wish I could do it...and stay away. I have deactivated many times only to go back there...I do not go on fb very often any more. I have other things online to distract me like d2e forum and my blog and the many others that I follow lol!

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  4. Oh, such an interesting post, Tammy. I am seriously tempted to do likewise. It is such a huge time-suck. J x

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  5. I have been thinking about doing this too... thinking very hard about it today actually.
    I am totally over it. Just keeping it to catch up with my friends as we have just moved internationally...although Im sure they all have email accounts.
    Might just delete it from my favourites bar and then at least I get tempted to 'pop' in.

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  6. I've never had a Facebook account and have zero interest in having one. All of my friends can't seem to understand that since they all have accounts. One of my best friends only stays in touch with family and friends through Facebook, so when I send her an email, it gets lost and ignored. I still prefer that personal contact -- no forwards, just a real email. I do not want my life consumed with gadgets and social networks. Call me old fashioned -- that's okay, I don't mind at all. Of course, my teenagers just call me old. Ha! Best wishes to you, Tammy

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  7. I deactivated my facebook account at the beginning of this year. I had a very happy two months without it, until I realised it was my main way of keeping in touch with my sisters and grandma who live interstate, and other relatives overseas. I am glad I tried life without it but I did discover I was feeling lonely because I'm not usually good at talking on the phone anyway.

    One thing I have cut out (since last week) is reading the online news everyday. In fact, I don't watch it on tv or listen to the radio either. It is really too depressing (and I worry that people are desensitised to violence as it just happens everyday). Anything important, someone will tell me.

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  8. Hi, I know what you mean. I have shut down facebook too. They say that when you don't sign in anymore, it will be deleted permenantly. That isn't the case then ??

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  9. Just saw this post in your side bar. I got rid of facebook for two years. It was great! It was after my daughter's birth that I reconnected on facebook. I say it was to connect with family/friends about new bub etc but it's also that nice feeling of popping your cute pics up and having people comment! My husband and I joke and call it 'bragbook' because essentially it's either for bragging or whinging! I would love to delete it again but my business page needs a personal page to continue running... I have however become far more disciplined in how I use it. I also find not having it on my iPhone makes it less likely to 'check it' constantly even though nothing is happening! Good luck on your facebook-less journey (are you still off it!?) It's definitely good to tone down the ineffective technologies when we're using so many!!! Congrats!

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  10. Wahhhh, I don't have your number!!! Jess has had her baby girl (and has lost some of her phone contacts!) I'm going to try visit today, they're going home at lunch time. If you see this in time call me we could go together if you like,

    Lisa xxx

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  11. When I deactivated mine, I removed all my photos, deleted my friends list and everything else I could and I couldn't be happier that I no longer have a Facebook account. I have absolutely no intention of ever using it again, it's the biggest time waster I have ever come across on the net!

    I keep in touch with my friends by email and by posting on my blog and this has been working really well for me.

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