No, I didn’t delete my account. But I have reduced my exposure quite a bit over time (I want using it much in the first place) and I find it more peaceful to stay away. There’s too much negativity, too many black and white arguments, too much chest thumping, too much narcissism, too less empathy...almost every negative human quality one can imagine is magnified a thousand times on these platforms (to the extent of my observations).
Yet, as someone who deeply cares about privacy (and strongly despises Facebook) but is also involved in some causes where connecting with other people (many strangers) helps, I use Facebook only for those purposes.
I don’t post anything personal, though Facebook would have my number because of all the other people uploading their address books to it. I use Facebook as a focused tool, and not to kill time by scrolling and clicking/tapping and watching videos that are ultimately wasteful in every way. Luckily, I don’t have a big social circle that’s only on Facebook, and if there are events that are only on Facebook, I don’t mind missing those. People who need to connect can always email me or call me.
Network effects aside, the user experience is very important. Without that, there’s no hope of making people try something else and having them stick with it. After all, many people have moved from Orkut to Friendster to MySpace to Facebook to Instagram to Snapchat and then back and what not. Anything that wants to replace Facebook should invent a new paradigm for communication and connection and/or should come as a complete replacement (“batteries included”).
Yet, as someone who deeply cares about privacy (and strongly despises Facebook) but is also involved in some causes where connecting with other people (many strangers) helps, I use Facebook only for those purposes.
I don’t post anything personal, though Facebook would have my number because of all the other people uploading their address books to it. I use Facebook as a focused tool, and not to kill time by scrolling and clicking/tapping and watching videos that are ultimately wasteful in every way. Luckily, I don’t have a big social circle that’s only on Facebook, and if there are events that are only on Facebook, I don’t mind missing those. People who need to connect can always email me or call me.
Network effects aside, the user experience is very important. Without that, there’s no hope of making people try something else and having them stick with it. After all, many people have moved from Orkut to Friendster to MySpace to Facebook to Instagram to Snapchat and then back and what not. Anything that wants to replace Facebook should invent a new paradigm for communication and connection and/or should come as a complete replacement (“batteries included”).