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November 12, 2007Tim Ireland: Facebook
If you ever encounter a profile in Facebook using the name 'Tim Ireland', it's not mine.
In a measure that's long overdue (and prompted by Justin's decision) I'm parting company with Facebook today.
Originally, it was one of the most annoying things about Facebook that made me join it; referral links were coming in to the Anne Milton weblog from a Facebook-based group of local Tories, and the only way to view what had been said in this supposedly public discussion was to sign up.
And since signing up, I've been pestered, prodded and poked by some people who I do want to network with - and many more that I don't.
I have email. I have a website with networking capabilities.
I do not need to be lumbered with this pester-tech.
I have no wish to be alerted by email that a text-based message (that they could have delivered in the first fucking place via email) is awaiting me at Facebook.
I certainly have no desire to put a begging button on my site in search of what they laughingly classify as 'friendship'.
I no longer wish to use Facebook, or be associated with it in any way.
And, as a true show of friendship, as my last act on Facebook, I'll be messaging all of those people whose invites I did accept (in moments of weakness) and warn them via a short message and a link to this post that they are victims of a particularly nasty social disease and invited to join me for the only cure.
I will then be deactivating my account.
Hello, friends.
Fuck off, Facebook.
Posted by Manic on November 12, 2007 3:26 PM in the category Teh Interwebs
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» Coz' the Facebook ain't listening... from Toblog
So, Channel 4 has quizzed facebook about just why they make it so hard to delete an account. For those of you just catching up, facebook allow you to ‘deactivate’ an account very easily but not delete all the data that you have put into their [Read More]
Tracked on November 21, 2007 6:34 PM
Comments
HAHAHA, you two should go on that Miserable Old Men programme!
I too am fed up of vampires, warewolves, compare, drinks, 'what drug are you', fun wall, superwall, bullshit groups and desperate 'friends' but I'll never get fed up being poked...and for that reason I'm staying.
Posted by: bigdaddymerk at November 12, 2007 3:51 PM
Exactly the reasons why I haven't and never will join. I've got better things to do like, er, erm...
Posted by: Sim-O at November 12, 2007 3:59 PM
I think social networking is a very interesting subject. As a social phenomena.
I do have a facebook account, and at least at the moment, I don't have any intentions of closing it. The platform has however, become a very joyless experience since the introduction of Apps, only a meagre fraction of which, are useful.
If you actually use it as a networking tool, it remains fairly useful - simply because of the number of contacts who use it.
All that said, it's going downhill fast.
Posted by: tyger at November 12, 2007 4:08 PM
*phenomenon*
Posted by: tyger at November 12, 2007 4:10 PM
Yes, it drives me bloody mad as well. I feel guilty that I haven't poked and prodded and accepted all the effing vampire bollocks things but I have to stay on because its the way I get feedback from readers.
Posted by: Rachel North London at November 12, 2007 5:21 PM
It's slightly annoying that you can't see what some people are talking about when you find Facebook referrals, but I haven't joined and have no intention of doing so.
Posted by: septicisle at November 12, 2007 5:42 PM
*hides* *mumbles*
I'm still kinda addicted to it... It's my only vice! Well, one of my only vices...
*runs off to spam his friends with annoying status updates*
Posted by: Jherad at November 13, 2007 10:21 AM
As with Rachel, all the vampire, zombie and other stupid apps drive me up the wall too. But it is a handy way to keep in touch with people who don't email very much. There are some very serious privacy issues with FB (not asking members about putting their profiles on search engines being the most offensive IMO). It is possible to limit the amount of information you give away and hide what you don't want to be seen but FB don't make this very plain to people.
I'll stick with it for the moment as there are a few (a very few) groups that are actually useful, but I'm keeping the situation under review. The initial fascination has definitely worn off.
Posted by: Davide Simonetti at November 13, 2007 4:08 PM
I do agree with you Tim that the use of the generic term "friendship" to describe everything from someone you've known since the cradle to people you've never met who've occasionally commented on your blog is pretty laughable. I have both sorts among my Facebook "friends."
I shall stay with it for now for the same reason as Davide S - regrettably some people seem to see this as an easier way of keeping in touch with me than email, though given that my blog is reasonably well known and my email address is available through it I can't really understand why that should be.
Posted by: Paul Linford at November 13, 2007 4:27 PM
A pressie for bigdaddymerk:
http://www.b3ta.com/board/7794558
Posted by: Manic at November 16, 2007 4:01 PM
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