Freedom!!

I have done it! I'm now one of a small growing trend who are finally saying "no" to Facebook.  Brian didn't think I would do it (I've been a die-hard facebooker for years), so I sat down with him last night, logged onto my account for the last time and had him watch me press the "deactivate my account" link and that was it.

My final post said I was doing it for various reasons...here's a few of them:
1.) It was getting pointless. Granted, it was a great way to kill time at work, but they're not paying me to sit on Facebook while I scan (contrary to popular belief).  I would read the exact same post from 5 different people and it was a complete "omg" moment.  I don't care that you're ex boyfriend is dating someone that you know--its life, that happens so get over it!  I don't want to read how much your life sucks when you (and expecting a lot of people to respond to it) when you don't take the time or day to say hi to anyone else.

2.) It was fake. Most of the people on my "friend" list were those from high school.  I sat down and realized this while I was contemplating deleting my account.  I HATED HIGH SCHOOL--why would I want to relive it?  Most of the people on my "friend" list wouldn't give me the time of day 10 years ago, why would that change now? And of course, it didn't.  I went into it with the nativity that people change over the years and they don't--if they didn't talk to you 10 years ago, they're still not talking to you now.

3.) I was becoming a Facebook stalker.  I would go through my "friend" list and realize that I hadn't seen anything posted from person A in awhile. I would check out their friend list and click on people I thought I knew/knew of and so on...when you step back and think about it, Facebook is nothing but a stalker's playground.

4.) The privacy was out the door.  As stated above, I was becoming a stalker as many millions of people often become on that website.   They have a new "timeline" format that it essentially being forced upon everyone that just opens up that stalker's playground that I was talking about.  Sure, they say that you can change your privacy settings, but in order to get the privacy that you want, then the only person who can see what you post is..you (which kinda takes away from the "social" aspect of a social network, huh?)

5.) Its social suicide.  People are becoming increasingly idiotic with the progression of Facebook.  Yes, its great for those who live far away.  However, people are also stupid enough (as I was) to have their boss or co-workers on their friend list.  That just opens things up to a heap of trouble and I have read where people have gotten in trouble at work because of what was posted on their Facebook page.  On one hand, I can see it as an invasion of privacy, however, you had your boss/co-worker on your friend page and you knew that they would be able to see whatever you posted.  Now if its posted while you're at work..then you're just plain stupid because you're using company time to do it.

I remember when people were freaking out about the lack of social contact when email and instant messengers became popular.  The same can be said for Facebook, only its been proven.  I have seen people change throughout the last 10 years since high school via Facebook to the point where I don't want to go to my high school reunion this year--kinda takes away the surprise of it all in my opinion. I gave people on my "friend" list plenty of time yesterday to send me their contact information to keep in touch with and very few people sent me their info...guess it goes to show who your friends really are, huh?

I think what's even more scary is that you don't truly "deactivate" your account.  Once you click on the link and tell them why you're leaving (they have reasons for everything on how you can correct your Facebook issues) there is a pop-up that says "Your account has been deactivated. If you wish to return, simply log in with your old email address and password and you can pick up where you left off".  REALLY???  That gives me great comfort in knowing my account information is still saved on their server just in case I want to come back.