I'm thinking of deleting my facebook account.

[J pold]

For the past few weeks my computer access has been rather limited, I don't have a working computer at home and the only time I use one recently is for short periods of times while at school. This got me thinking why do I have a facebook account at all? Initially I thought my social life would take somewhat of a beating without me being on facebook at least once a day, but if anything it's thrived. I've found myself actually having genuine interactions with people, instead of writing useless messages on walls and commenting on status updates. When I ask people what's new in their lives, I don't know before hand from reading their facebook page. Not to mention the amount of time I wasted for on it for the last few years.

However it's not all bad, I've been the creator and participant in groups dedicated to people who have passed away, that are very touching. I can communicate with family and friends who are abroad with relative easy. Coordinating events/trips with friends can also be done easily.

But because of our modern society deleting your facebook account is somewhat of a brash decision, or as someone once told me "committing social suicide".I wanted to consult the people of CP.

Why do you have a facebook account?

What benefits does it bring to your life?

What harm does it being to your life?

How much time do you spend on facebook?

How much would your life be impacted if you deleted your account today?

[flylock shox]

Facebook is great.

It's the most efficient way to ignore everyone you've ever met.

[Clever_Iggy]

Clever_Iggy is wishing J pold luck on his tough decision!!!!!!11!!

[NBC]

Never had an account, never will so I can't help you out. But I found this on the BBC.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8299362.stm

[TurnedTheCorner]

What's unique about Facebook that warrants it to such scrutiny as opposed to, say, Calgarypuck? Or any other forum/website?

Why do you have a Calgarypuck account?

What benefits does it bring to your life?

What harm does it being to your life?

How much time do you spend on Calgarypuck?

How much would your life be impacted if you deleted your account today?

[malcolmk14]

I deleted mine about two months ago. Just do it, you won't regret it.

You also won't remember anyone's birthdays.

[Traditional_Ale]

- Yes.

- Coordinate gigs.

- Having to have friends of my girl whom I actually dislike a lot on my list out of being polite.

- 10 minutes a day in total unless I happen to have lots of messages to write.

- I'd lose income.

[Azure]

I just use it to keep up with people I don't ever see.

And look at pictures. No biggie.

[wittynickname]

Originally Posted by J pold

Why do you have a facebook account?

What benefits does it bring to your life?

What harm does it being to your life?

How much time do you spend on facebook?

How much would your life be impacted if you deleted your account today?

1) To be quite honest, originally it was to creep pictures of various people who had facebooks.

2) It makes it easier to get in touch with people. I hate making phone calls, I absolutely hate it--so if I can message someone on facebook rather than leave an awkward voicemail, it's improved my day.

3) Not much, really, the worst I get are people who I went to school with who friended me that I never wanted to talk to again. And even then, I ignore them.

4) Not too much, I usually check in when I'm on the computer, but rarely am I on for a long period of time.

5) It probably wouldn't be a huge effect--I'd just have to make more phone calls, and I'd have a harder time remembering people's birthdays.

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

What's unique about Facebook that warrants it to such scrutiny as opposed to, say, Calgarypuck? Or any other forum/website?

Why do you have a Calgarypuck account?

What benefits does it bring to your life?

What harm does it being to your life?

How much time do you spend on Calgarypuck?

How much would your life be impacted if you deleted your account today?

- Yes.

- Its the best damn message board community I've ever been a part of ever.

- Lost productivity when I could be doing grander things but I don't care.

- Hour a day I bet sometimes. I check in about four times a day.

- I'd have to go drink myself to death.

[Dion]

Don't have one as I don't like having my personal info spread all over the internet.

[Resolute 14]

Signed up only because we initially used it with the central softball team. Haven't logged in in months, really.

FWIW, when a friend of mine started with the RCMP, it was recommended to her that she delete her account. The possibility for abuse and identity theft is too great.

[J pold]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

What's unique about Facebook that warrants it to such scrutiny as opposed to, say, Calgarypuck? Or any other forum/website?

Why do you have a Calgarypuck account?

What benefits does it bring to your life?

What harm does it being to your life?

How much time do you spend on Calgarypuck?

How much would your life be impacted if you deleted your account today?

Nothing I suppose, however I know that I get much more utility form an hour on CP than I do form an hour on facebook. CP's general discussion on a wide range of topics is often thought provoking, and educational for me. I know I that I get the majority of the news here, but not only that I get a (sometimes) intellectual discussion because of the quality of the posters on CP. Take politics for example, CP is the first place I go to hear what's going on and read the discussion from people like peter_12, and Iowa_Flames_Fan who have a great deal of knowledge on the issue.

[BlackArcher101]

I find it a little funny that you posted on a public forum asking if you should keep a trivial account on another public website because it's not as social as you thought it was.

Why even worry about deleting it? Just stop using it.

[metallicat]

I have one, but it's extremely restricted. I don't think you can find it by searching for my name or email address. I was very hesitant at the start to set it up, but it seems everyone has one now, so it's not big deal. I like to keep in contact with people I never see anymore, so if I deleted it, I would miss out on that.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

I deleted mine about two months ago. Just do it, you won't regret it.

You also won't remember anyone's birthdays.

For those whose birthdays you actually do wish to remember, use www.birthdayalarm.com

You can enter any significant event of which you want a reminder. And you can set the reminder time, so a week before? 2 days before?

[The Fonz]

I deleted mine 2 days ago, and I haven't died yet.

I was never a big facebook'er though.

[CrusaderPi]

I like facebook. I like learning about distant peope's lives who are only vaguely part of my life. I really like keeping some minimal contact with people who came in to my life but are no longer part of it. I even like seeing the faces and learning names of online, internet only, friends.

www.facebook.com/crusaderpi

[The Goon]

I feel a bit old to be using Facebook, but it's a centralized way for me to keep in touch with relatives overseas (and I have a lot).

Other than that, I like to put snarky comments on friends' statuses.

[4X4]

Deleted mine about 6 months ago and really don't miss it. I do miss a few overseas friends' pics, but whatever.
As far as local friends go, if there's something epic on there, one of my friends is quick to open their facebook account and show me.

It got a bit creepy for me. each time I'd meet a girl, she'd rummage my facebook and look at the pics, and I admittedly did the same. In fact, a couple of them I ultimately gave no chance to because I looked through their account and saw stuff I didn't like.
One girl had listed about 15 reality shows in her tv list, and since I hate reality shows, I groaned and deleted her before ever bothering to actually go out with just her, and find out if she's a cool person. Sure she was attractive at that party, and obviously I wanted to get to know her better, otherwise we wouldn't have talked so much that night. So what the hell was I thinking? My ex g/f loved reality tv and we somehow got along for a few years.
On the flip side, I'm sure I've been deselected as a love interest for exactly the same reason. Maybe my religious or political views. Maybe my education. Maybe that pic I got tagged in where I was passed out on a street in Vernazza...

I don't know. I guess to each his own. I really enjoyed facebook for awhile there, but it just became a bit weird with some of the status updates, getting tagged in pics, knowing more about people than I really should and people knowing more about me than they should.

Who among you hasn't seen someone attractive in a friends' friends list and gone and creeped their page? I know I did, and that probably means people did it to mine before I went nazi and cranked up the security settings. Ultimately, that wasn't enough for me. My parents and aunts and uncles got on there and were suddenly privy to pics that they had no business seeing. I really don't need my religious dad seeing a pic of me with a beer in one hand and my other hand wrapped around some chick in a skirt on a dancefloor. Know what I mean? And yeah, I know I can untag myself in pics, but now it becomes more like a maintenance chore to upkeep the thing than it is a place to relax and look at pics and chat.

And then, of course, there's the possibility it gets broken into by someone that you've pissed off. I know a guy whose account was hacked by his pissed off ex. She did some pretty awful stuff and said things to his friends and family. That kind of shiz creeps me out. Too many old messages in there. Too many things I've said to people in confidence or when impaired. No reason for stuff like that to be on record somewhere with a mere password keeping it safe.