Facebook Free

I am officially, and very happily, Facebook free!

I'm no longer obligated to accept a friend request from someone I happened to have taken a class with eons ago or some 5th relative-x 20 times removed and then worry about which pictures are appropriate to share or what status is politically correct for everyone.

Several reasons led me to make the decision to leave Facebook for good. Some of those reasons include:
- a feeling of loss of control over what I was sharing and how far it reached (yes I like BestBuy, no I don't care for my face to be used in an advertisement that shows up in the newsfeed)
- an overload of information by others (I really don't care about what song you're listening to on Youtube right now or how many diapers your baby has gone through in the last day)
- having all new opt-out only "upgrades"
- a sense of a breach or loss of my privacy (this is a hot-button issue that is gaining a lot of attention and convincing many others to delete their Facebook accounts)

My day used to begin with Gmail, Twitter, Facebook and Google News. Now that I'm down one used-to-be-permanently pinned tab in my browser, I find it has freed up a considerable chunk of time. Surprising, since I didn't think I spent that much time on Facebook anymore.

At first I didn't know what to do with the extra time. It was very tempting to join another social network or a different forum to fill the space, but I've "been there, done that" and it was time to move on. Instead, I'm making a mental list of all the significantly more productive things I can do both online and offline (ie: blogging, research, catching up on real news, cleaning, journaling, etc.).

I'm very excited to have made a positive change in my life. This will help me pursue more productive and fruitful endeavors.

Facebook DOES NOT have permission to use my face..and other gripes

Gizmodo recently posted an article about Facebook "showing your picture in an ad" ... without expressly asking/informing you. The author (Kyle Wagner) thinks it's reasonable; I don't.

So of course, I had mini-ranted on Facebook about it. And here it is for a wider audience:

1) Using my image for profit without asking for my express permission and/or compensating me is/should be against basic ethics of journalism.

2) Most people on FB are now on limited profiles. Most public profiles are of celebrities or companies. By choosing to limit my profile to a small group of people, I am expressly stating that I don't wish any of my information (including my likes) to be shared beyond that circle (oh how convenient... Google+ would probably warn me/ask my permission before using my information beyond the scope of my "circles").
Does it get anyone else mad? Is anyone else concerned by how much control FB has over any and all content that we post? Or how little control we have of what happens to it thereon? Am I wrong in thinking this way?

I don't think so. FB was supposed to be a "social" experience, not a "global" experience. In their own words, it's a place where you "connect and share with the people in your life." If I want to reach a wider audience I do so via my blog, Twitter or Google+. My FB account is purposely limited to friends and family, people I actually, personally know. It does feel like a violation of my privacy. It does annoy me that I always have to "opt-out" of things on FB, and even then I don't have complete control. And it does not make any sense that FB continues to operate in this high-handed, over-regulating/controlling, and almost bullying fashion.

12/31/2011 will definitely be my last day on Facebook.