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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to quit Facebook?

82 replies

PeasForTeaAgain · 12/06/2008 22:01

I just threw my toys out of the pram and deleted myself from Facebook. Am I crazy? I also resigned from the church council after just 2 meetings. I wonder if I am on a slippery slope to quitterdom and may next resign from life and live under a log... anyone else jumped the 'book lately?!

OP posts:
themildmanneredjanitor · 13/06/2008 09:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

greenelizabeth · 13/06/2008 09:08

LOL at the cheese comment! It is so unrewarding compared to having a real chat on mumsnet for example..

BagelBird · 13/06/2008 09:10

I HATE FB. I joined briefly to check it out and had my account deactivated soon after. The whole concept seems to be about showing off with the "look how many friends I have in my list" nonsense. Sure, I was mildly amused when I checked out some of the other 30 something mums profiles in the village... full of decades old bikini clad "me on the beach with my mate" photos. That bit was hilarious. Once I stopped spluttering and laughing, got quickly bored by all the self projected love and trendiness of it all. Just plain silly and don?t get the attraction of it at all.
Thank God mumsnet doesnt run on that mentality or we would all have little boxes next to our user names with "XXX friends" or maybe a star system, earned depending on number of people who "vote" for you blah blah blah. Boy, FB gets me ranting!

greenelizabeth · 13/06/2008 09:12

Yes, some of the scariest guys from my school just have pictures of themselves around girls in bars.

I suppose they think that REALLY shows us!!

geekgirl · 13/06/2008 09:16

yes, me too. Removed my profile after about 4 weeks because I got contacted by all these people I went to school with but was actually very happy to have left behind

TsarChasm · 13/06/2008 09:22

Oh what a relief. I thought it was just me that didn't get FB.

Rofl MrsSprat at regretting 'bong/largin' it photos' and yes that's also a darn good point too. There are certain periods of all our lives (ie student) when a veil is best drawn across some of it.

I couldn't work it out though. I mean I've already got a list of people I'm supposed to be friends with but never actually see. It's called my Christmas card list

CoteDAzur · 13/06/2008 11:43

I love Facebook.

You wouldn't need it if you've always lived in the same place and so can choose to keep people in your life, but I have moved cities several times and even continents and have friends and family scattered around the world.

Facebook is great to keep in touch with them all.

hayley2u · 13/06/2008 11:55

i love face book, its very addictive though ha, plus i in touch with people i lost contact with its blody gr8 xx

QuintessentialShadows · 13/06/2008 12:02

Greenelizabeth, what is embarrasing is that you actually think people go looking for you!

I have mastered facebook. I am not searchable, so you cant find me if you want to. I am there with my real name, but my maiden name, which means nothing as I am not searchable. But my OLD friends from long ago will see me and recognize me on THEIR friends facebooks, and can request to add me as their friend at their leisure. NOBODY can see my profile and albums etc(only pic and name) unless they are my friend. Oh, and I never check and deal with any notifications, last time I checked I had 390 notifications. So in fact, I dont even know if people have requested that they BE my friend, I will unwittingly have snubbed them. Same shit, who cares, past life, GET A LIFE. I do will not own, and I will not be owned.

Yup, that is it. My take on FaceBook.

aDad · 13/06/2008 12:10

I like facebook too, great for feeling more in touch with long distance friends, photo sharing.

Like QS, I only have real friends as my fb friends, no work colleagues etc and, my photo is of random things and not me.

I thought it would be evil but it's not really if you take some basic precautions.

ProfYaffle · 13/06/2008 12:14

I'm crap at fb, not really interested at getting any better either. It's been kind of useful to contact one or two people whose e-mail I didn't have but it feels weird and intrusive looking at other people's profiles and rummaging through their friends. ugh.

Agree about all the 'cheese' bobbins.

greenelizabeth · 13/06/2008 14:43

QS, what a weird thing to say. To never, ever be embarrassed by anything is in fact one of the traits of a Sociopath.

People do searches for other people on facebook all the time. I would have thought that was obvious. I've had 3 messages from people I haven't seen for 20 yrs and 8 yrs. So I'm not deluding myself to think people are doing searches on my name. I have also searched for a few people that I'm interested in. This is human nature.

Facebook is still a crock of shit though. It is just a platform for showing off and for nosiness and, also, in my case, and many others' cases, cringing with embarrassment over something trivial.

QuintessentialShadows · 13/06/2008 16:04

Greenelizabeth, I wouldnt know, I have hardly any facebook friends, for reasons I have outlined below!

JoDivine · 13/06/2008 16:19

Make sure you delete your account - rather than deactivate - otherwise they retain all your details:

From IT site The Register:

The method is still well-hidden and comes across as slightly petulant. To quit Facebook you have to fill in this form - there's a group explaining the process here (you have to be logged in to see these pages).

MrsSprat · 13/06/2008 16:27

I have moved many times and lived in different cities and still manage to survive without FB, you know, like in the old days. I've been known to phone people, meet up, send the odd text and email. I'll just be off on my penny farthing...

CoteDAzur · 13/06/2008 17:11

Not much you need to 'survive', except food, clothing, and shelter.

Everything else is entertainment. So is Facebook.

I like it because it lets me keep in touch with friends and family. Nobody else gets to see me or my photos, or bother me.

greenelizabeth · 14/06/2008 12:10

jO, i have e-mailed them at that address and asked them delete my account. I received a computer automated reply ordering me to read their terms....

ARGH!!! Help. Can anybody say that yes, they once managed to delete their facebook account?! Or is it like a unicorn?

ScienceTeacher · 14/06/2008 13:28

You can quit or not quit Facebook if you want to. It doesn't come into the realm of unreasonableness.

Personally, I think it is fun. I have connected with old friends, and actually have a relationship with distant family members. I go through phases of playing Scrabulous etc, which is relatively cerebral and fun.

I love that it is so easy to share photographs, etc. - much easier than a personal webpage or photo application.

I give away very little personal info. Just enough that someone who knows my name gets the right one. I don't have my age, address, etc. on there.

SaintGeorge · 14/06/2008 13:34

greenelizabeth - seriously if it bothers you that much, then delete any personal info.

If for any reason it won't let you delete a line, simply replace it with rubbish.

greenelizabeth · 14/06/2008 16:27

It's my PHOTO that I can't bear being there. I tried re-activating my account and I uploaded a cow but although in the profile the cow photo has been saved, My own photo shows up when I search by name.

I've sent two e-mails to facebook and it hasn't been deleted yet. They are crap.

I'm in my 30s and tinkering about on the internet is a very small part of my life! but teenagers have been known to commit suicide over their internet dramas. I can't believe that Facebook have made it SO difficult for me to delete my account.

They should be more co-operative to people who want to remove their photo/account from the WWW.

SaintGeorge · 14/06/2008 16:38

Have you deleted the original photo?

It can be done. I know it is a pain to have to delete things individually but unfortunately, if you choose to put things out there on the internet, there is usually a price of some sort to pay.

CoteDAzur · 14/06/2008 16:47

Why can't you replace that photo with that of your dog or something?

SaintGeorge · 14/06/2008 21:50

greenelizabeth, found a new link for you.

Log in to facebook account and then go here for permanent deletion of account.

JoDivine · 15/06/2008 13:21

greenelizabeth: Well, it worked for me, and as I'm no longer on the site, I can't see those pages. Did you follow the links I gave to the Register article?

SummatAndNowt · 15/06/2008 14:11

I was on it for about a month a few months back. Got back in touch with some people which was great, but then it was ridiculous and I was spending time on it doing pointless things like Battlestar Galactica and Top Gear quizzes! Such a relief when I finished it! Mind, not easy to find that bit where you have to request your profile to be deleted, bit creepy really.