[Closed] Facebook avoidance

No point pissing about, just delete your account.

How does that work? Is it an assumption that because I’m reading my email, it must be me and the link authorises login without password? I’m mildly outraged by its behaviour.

Yeah, pretty much. They will also remember your old passwords unless you de-authorise your devices.

I completed Facebook about a year and a half ago now.
Decided I was spending too much time looking at other peoples lives and comparing them to mine. Not healthy. I deactivated my account, not the one where it's permanent, so I can use messenger for keeping in touch with a couple of groups.
Reactivated it once and lasted about 10 mins before deleting it again.
I recommend doing something similar.

Obviously now I just spend the same time on Instagram, but that's a battle for another time.

I deleted my account ages ago. Still in contact with the people that really matter to me, dont miss it all .*smugmode off*

Just download your profile file to access photos etc and delete delete delete your account. Simple.
Facebook is a rubbish

Ha ha, these things are designed to be addictive. Your only hope is to stop using a smartphone. If you dont have the interweb in your pocket you can avoid it.

I dont have a smartphone, so my only access to the web is via my work PC, or the one at home. Then its very easy to just use it when you need it.

Delete the Facebook app, it has loads of mandatory permissions.

Clear the history on the browser you are using.

Use opera or Firefox with add ons so you can choose to open a fresh virgin browser every time you go online if that's what you want.

I still need / want it for a small number of groups locally*, but only need to check in occasionally. I can abstain no problem with a simple barrier, just has me miffed that they can log me in.

I still need / want it for a small number of groups locally*, but only need to check in occasionally. I can abstain no problem with a simple barrier

That's exactly what an addict would say.

The best thing to do is unfriend everyone, remove all the connections with groups, delete all personal info and basically reset as much as possible until your account looks like a brand new one. Then deactivate/delete account. You can’t then get any emails about groups and friends as you don’t have any connections to any.
I did this a few years ago and not been ok since.
It is a shame that a lot of people organise stuff through FB but I think more are using WhatsApp too so it isn’t too bad in some respects.

Not visited Facebook for over a year... Went on there the other week and managed to insult and upset many family members with witty responses to their bigoted views.

I'm going back to the UK tomorrow for three weeks. I can already envisage myself taking the dog for lots of long walks to the pub (although given the clientele I might avoid the pub, too), meeting old friends and going for a bike ride when certain family members turn up.

Was also surprised that fb kept my login details despite me not asking them to do so.

Oh, and mark anything Facebook related as spam so you don’t get any emails from them.

As far as I’m concerned if people can’t be bothered to include you in stuff as you’re not on Facebook they can’t be that good a friend/acquaintance and probably won’t be missed!

Oh, and Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.... Same company.

Last year I did many jobs for Facebook all over Europe at various political events (and disturbingly lots in Brussels).

All bar one of the fb staff were dickheads. They had all seemingly drunk the koolaid.

If you don't want any emails, just turn it off in the settings for notifications.

I still need / want it for a small number of groups

Yup, that's pretty much the only reason I'm still on Facebook.

Facebook is brilliant.

It's probably about the best form 9f media for only seeing what you want to see and what interests you.

I unfollowed pretty much every one on there apart from close family, loved ones and trusted mates. I'm only in groups that I actually want to be in, it's one of the best ways to contact businesses now too, apart from the odd ad it's all relevant to my interests.

Pinterest is far better though! 😊

Those of you who have left Facebook, what do you do with your newfound free time, other than tell everyone that you're not on Facebook?

I turned off notifications, never installed the app on my phone, including Messenger and as above unfollowed everyone bar a few very good friends and my one remaining family member.

I also reduced my personal info to the bare minimum, including the annoying birthdate thing.

I visit it when I choose now, which is very infrequently 😁

Those of you who have left Facebook, what do you do with your newfound free time,

Didn’t use it too much beforehand to be honest so not had that experience.

I know some people who just sit on their phones and quote stuff off FB while others are having comepletely different normal subjects. No I don’t want to see a monkey falling out of a tree or listen to an inane positivity quote or old joke.

Ditched it all here about 4 months ago.....don’t miss it!

^ some of us never signed up for Facebook/instagram & whatever other utterly pointless social media shite in the first place, does stw count as social media though?, this is the only forum I am signed up to, I have no favourites nor subscribed to any threads nor do I meet up with or speak to any users, would that be an anti-social social media presence?

Yup, that’s pretty much the only reason I’m still on Facebook.

No YOU hang up!

does stw count as social media though?

Sure it does. It's a medium, and we're (usually) being social on it.

Which makes posts about not using Facebook / other social media whilst posting 7 times a minute on STW somewhat ironic, really.

Those of you who have left Facebook, what do you do with your newfound free time, other than tell everyone that you’re not on Facebook?

Pinkbike, Porn, Powerkite forums, telling people I'm an engineer. What else is there?

I unfollowed pretty much every one on there apart from close family, loved ones and trusted mates. I’m only in groups that I actually want to be in, it’s one of the best ways to contact businesses now too, apart from the odd ad it’s all relevant to my interests.

I'm moving closer to this - not deliberately really, it just sort of happens, as the posts and people I interact with are generally those from biking and other special interest hobbies. Facebook algorithms then show me more of that. Still want some rubbish to read on the loo though; so I'm not blocking all the idiots.

If you cant regulate this yourself, you're the problem, not Facebook.

It has passed me by, just like CDs, German cars, secret Santa, working for a living and top quality blowies.

Which makes posts about not using Facebook / other social media whilst posting 7 times a minute on STW somewhat ironic, really.

Utter tosh. Singletrack value my privacy!

And the daily mash, it's worth it for the mash!

Ditched my Facebook 18 months ago - completely erased the lot. Not missed it, other than the occasional family thing no-one tells me about, even my wife !. Can't say I'm bothered.

It's usaful for groups, but the main one I'm interested in does post to twitter too, so I can get on the rides.

Has anyone figured out a way to download all the photos you're tagged in, e.g. others people's photos of you?

That's what keeps me on there, the fear of losing access to old photos of me on FB, I guess I could download them manually but FB says there are thousands of them...

Those of you who have left Facebook, what do you do with your newfound free time, other than tell everyone that you’re not on Facebook?

Become vegan and tell people about it.

And take up triathlonging

I unfollowed pretty much every one on there apart from close family, loved ones and trusted mates

I am honoured to remain 😀

And take up triathlonging

And tell people about it.

I am honoured to remain 😀

Erm, I've something to tell you mate.... 😂

😜

Oops

I remember a colleague not taking well to being "housekept"

I took a huge step back from Facebook, like anything, the first couple of days required some discipline but after that I just realised there's not a lot to miss. I'll now occasionally have a look at specific people or groups to see what they're up to but don't browse Facebook anymore. Well apart from a wee slip up last week when the election culminated. I'm now reading more, working my way through the Ken Burns WWII documentary on Netflix and interacting with my kids more, when I can get them off their phones.

And take up triathlonging

And tell people about it.

I gave up FB a few years ago and started doing triathlons this year. Just saying like!!

I still eat meat though and have a TV....

I don't understand why people need to do complex things to stop themselves looking at Facebook, etc. Just don't look at it, if you don't want to look at it. Haven't you got any willpower?

JP

A lot of you on your high horses here.

FB has made a hugely positive difference to my life over the past 5 years or so and I wouldn’t be without it. Brilliant for discussing and involvement in my main hobby and keeping in touch with friends abroad. It even resulted in my stolen car being found within 12 hours despite the police saying there was sweet FA chance they could do anything. They should’ve tried Facebook...

It also makes a big difference to people with disabilities or the elderly who can get involved with things and communicate with the outside world where they may be isolated otherwise.

A lot of you on your high horses here.

😂

You do know where you are, don’t you?

I deleted my account 2 years ago now. After a stroke and the breakdown of my marriage. I couldn't stand other people's vanity blogging.
I stepped right back from social media, evening deleted Strava.
I still have Instagram, however l muted most of my 'friends' accounts bar those who are close friends. Use it mostly for following interesting MTB riders around the world.

This suited me and helped at the time with what I was dealing with. I haven't really missed it. I still speak to friends and family on the phone, WhatsApp or text.
I've got over the FOMO.

I deleted my FB account around two years ago now. Initially it’s getting out of the habit of checking it, but it soon gets forgotten.

Facebook exacerbates people’s mental health issues. As STW forum identifies there are lots depressed and personality disordered people in society, and one thing that research has identified as fuelling mental health problems is relative inequalities. The false nature of FB with edited photos and exaggerated portrayals of perfect lifestyles just causes vulnerable people added stress.

Ha ha, these things are designed to be addictive. Your only hope is to stop using a smartphone. If you dont have the interweb in your pocket you can avoid it.

Says more about you than it does about me. I just stopped using Fb a bit over two years ago, I haven’t deleted it, just moved the app away from the first page on my phone and pad, and basically just completely ignore its existence.
I still get email updates, I just delete them.

Those of you who have left Facebook, what do you do with your newfound free time, other than tell everyone that you’re not on Facebook?

Well, it happens that the time I stopped using Fb coincided with getting back in touch with someone I knew from around 25 years ago, via Fb, and her moving in with me.
Also I just got fed up with so much of the bullshit and conspiracy crap gets posted up on there, I e just settled on a steady diet of Flipboard and STW to satisfy my social media and news cravings.
Never had much to do with Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp pretty much passed me by.
Perfectly happy with real life, plus at much the same time my work involved getting home pretty late, and I just couldn’t be arsed with Fb, more interesting things to occupy myself with, like music and books and having a life.

Twitter is a absolutely dreadful, full of raving egomaniacs.

Yeah, Twitter had the same treatment of locking my password. There a lot of nobheads people on there.

A lot of you on your high horses here.

That's a summer thing surely? At this time of year it's more about being holier than thou.

It does deserve all the criticism but a couple of days ago a shopkeeper posted a cctv shot of some R sole stealing a charity box off the counter. Anyway within a day he was recognised and named, ha!
I'm in groups focused on medieval history, Victorian painting, mtb etc etc and to that extent it has led me to some interesting online magazines and articles. So I shan't ditch it but will try to avoid too much procrastination.

Ditched it off earlier this year - still have an active account (as I also have to use their developer tools and I can't be arsed to switch all that over to a new account) but I just don't bother logging in.

I think I logged in once just before the elections and was greeted with the usual dribble so pretty much instantly logged out.

What did it for me was people who live in the same house, probably sitting on the same sofa, needing to have whole conversations in a FB post. That, and people resharing the same old crap every day.

STW is my social media.

For all its negatives (there are FAR more positives for me though) its actually a place of sanctuary compared to the sad, depressing and dangerous (in various ways) crap on actual social media.

Why do you have to avoid/ditch Facebook? There's useful info on there all the time related to interests you have. There's also a million trillion terrabytes of useless bollocks all of which is very easily avoided.
As for passwords/email notifications/autologins - they've made all the settings simple enough for any typical Facebook user (think the lowest form of human life that can actually use a smartphone) to negotiate, so just set it how you need it.