#DeleteFacebook

[MJ DeMarco]

I think the next generation of social media platforms opportunities are gonna fill this gap of distrust of government, big corporate bureaucracy and "false friends" and more towards authenticity. Huge opportunities in these areas.

Yup, and also huge opportunities in anything that brings back together time with real people...

Puzzles
Board Games
Yard Games

 

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[G-Man]

I would say Zuckerberg is the Devil, but the Devil is actually interesting. Zuckerberg is what I would imagine the Dark Prince would choose as a VP candidate. Evil, sure, but boring enough to bring some balance to the ticket.

 

[Invictus]

Haven't read his book, but I'm guessing he's taken a position similar to mine, that being, having a smartphone duct-taped to one's face isn't good for your life?

In Deep Work, Newport makes the argument that it's actually affecting our ability to do important work. We're so used to playing on Facebook and 'shallow work' (IE: Answering emails, slack notifications, and repetitive stuff) that we're increasingly unable to actually sit down and do something that requires focus.

Like writing a book. Strategizing. Conquering your enemies. Coding.

We spend so much time on B.S. or less important tasks, that it fills up our days and prevents us from working effectively.

The man barely answers emails and doesn't have a Facebook. He's often told he's missing out. But, in one year alone, he published 7 peer-reviewed papers, wrote/published a book, parented two kids, read multiple books (which is apparently an achievement in this day and age), and rarely worked past 5:30.

I would say I recommend the book, but, I doubt you'd gain much value from it. It's a fantastic read and I learned a lot, but you'd likely be hearing much of what you already know.

 

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[Scuur]

I haven't had a FaceBook since 2015. I deleted Instagram about a year ago when they started changing how you viewed the latest post. Zucks is going to ruin Instagram, soon it will be #DeleteInsta.

 

[Doug Smith]

I'm not really a fan of Facebook for several years now. In the early days of FB I found myself posting meaningless status updates, mostly negative. As I began to grown as a person and entrepreneur I found myself posting less and less. I also found myself blocking the majority of my "friends" from the feed because I hated their negativity so much. I still have a FB mostly for some of the groups I'm in. I get a decent amount of value from many of them. I rarely post.

 

[ZF Lee]

Just saying...

Mark Zuckerberg don't give a sh*t about you.

I do.

Thanks MJ!

It is very humbling every day to see you come by this forum, although you have had it made. Before I came here, I thought that finding mentors or people to learn from was only reserved for people with more money or connections.

I was wrong.

So it seems stakeholder demotions have taken its toll on Facebook....

I found Facebook to be cancerous and damaging to my health and so I deleted it in 2011.

In 2016 I made a new account which does not contain my full real name. I have 1 childhood friend on it (who I keep trying to get in to business or some sort for himself), and my wife (so that she can keep tabs on me haha, tricks on her, I rarely use it). I signed up after my first Event, and for the sole purpose of keeping in touch with those who I became friends with in my new business circle of friends.

It has since been handy in finding housing for an LA meetup, and the 2018 meetup. Other than that I don't use it. In fact, I have not even been on it since the Event in February, and I probably won't be on it for another month or so since I have better things to do with my time.

Same here!

I use FB only for meetups. These days though, my preference is Whatsapp. Easily interchangeable with phone numbers, and minus the ads.

That being said, I will still keep an account on FB, but I won't worship it.

 

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[ChrisR]

I deleted mine about six years ago. It was seriously one of the best things that I've ever done for myself.

-Chris

 

[Vigilante]

I have never had a positive Roi on promoted posts on Facebook

 

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[Andy Black]

I deleted the Facebook app off my phone yesterday. Mostly because I don’t use it anyway. Messenger is a separate app and I use it a lot to keep in touch with family. I can login to Facebook once in a while from my PC.

Facebook is a bit like LinkedIn for me. I forget to login to LI for months on end. When I do I’ve usually got a few hundred connection requests that I mass approve.

A few months ago I had a bit of a concerted effort to post content on social media platforms but got bored of it super fast. It’s not the same as posting into a community in a forum or even a Facebook group. People don’t really get to know you on social media platforms. Posting on social media felt to me more like speaking *at* people rather than having a conversation *with* people.

 

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[Hellovirginia]

Just saying...

Guess I'm the early adopter here.

I've deleted Facebook from my minds-eye a couple years ago. I still have the accounts, but me visiting Facebook is like me going to the Mutual Fund retirement conference.

And if you want to help me out besides the ten dollars you spent on my book(s), visiting THE FORUM and contributing HERE over Facebook helps me tremendously.

Mark Zuckerberg don't give a sh*t about you.

I do.

The science is stacking up on digital involvement. Constant dopamine release accompanied by diminished interactions with people and nature. Leads to misery. Happiness level in the US are plummeting. I had Facebook for about 6 months years ago. What a miserable time suck. And they changed their feed algorithm to give you what they want you to see. Not necessarily what you're interested in.

 

[NaPal]

I ditched facebook about 2 months ago.

I realized I was wasting an absurd amount of time on endless clickbait posts, endless friend updates, and endless scrolling.

Facebook is truly for slowlaners IMO.

 

[biophase]

I really don't understand what the issue with Facebook is that you have to delete it from your phone to stop using it. I mean come on people, just don't look at it if it's screwing up your productivity. I have the opposite problem that I'm scrolling through FB if I'm bored and have nothing else to do. It's like blaming the TV for being there and being so easy to turn on. Oh why did they make it so easy???

You need some will power, if a little dinging message is going to distract you from doing work and you can't keep working without seeing who it was, then you got bigger problems.

This post also made me realize that I no longer have an "Amazon" business, but now I have a "facebook + Amazon" business. Talk about no control. As you can see from my unavailable boost below, my FB ads account got banned. So now I'm relying on organic reach. But if FB ever bans my account, I'd be screwed.

 

[AllenCrawley]

Can't wait for the eventual returns.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

If you have a business, and customers are looking for you on Facebook, you should be on Facebook.

And that's the only reason why I haven't *officially* clicked DELETE. Same goes with Instagram.

I have to be there because my readers are there.

I consider it a necessary evil.

It's like paying taxes.

 

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[Tom.V]

The more I'm on Facebook (not as a time wasting exercise) the more my business grows. All I have to say is for business owners, avoid the platform at your own peril. The networking, availability of rich industry specific knowledge, ability to easily target specific demographics for any business, and the list goes on. So long as you avoid the typical Sidewalker traps there is gold everywhere if you keep your eyes peeled.

 

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[Niptuck MD]

ive been banned 6 times in the last year; F facebook; THERE IS NO FREEDOM OF SPEECH @GlobalWealth lol

F U ZUCKERBURG

facebook is for the birds now. no freedoom (i was on it to keep track of long lost family and kin and children) but they dont want that even anymore.

 

[minivanman]

I was less negative emotionally. More productive with my day. I generally hated humanity less haha

Apparently you don't drive in a big city! LMAO

 

[rogue synthetic]

Count me in with you social media skeptics.

A few years back when younger people were still using FB, I had to hear that "you need an account like you need a phone". I was already checked out of the platform even back then, taking a few six-month-long account closures to prevent temptations.

Eventually I just closed the thing down several years ago and never looked back as a casual user.

I did make an empty backup profile, with no info filled out and no friends, to manage a few pages I had up. I've been dabbling back on the platform recently to see if there's anything worth doing with groups and the ads platform.

So far I'm not too impressed with trying to build up a group (though that's got a lot to do with me not being too sure about the content strategy just yet, so there's trial-and-error kinks to work out). Ads might be more promising but, as with the groups, I'm still not sure that the platform is where I want to be.

Besides all that I keep coming back to Cal Newport's thoughts on this topic: the less time on social media the better. Besides the hit to productivity, there's something unsavory about conditioning yourself into a human version of Pavlov's dog with a smartphone.

 

[rogue synthetic]

Haven't read his book, but I'm guessing he's taken a position similar to mine, that being, having a smartphone duct-taped to one's face isn't good for your life?

That's about the gist of it, yes.

As @Invictus said, Deep Work makes a strong case for working in high blocks of time, with a high quality of focus, if your work involves any sort of cognitive effort -- which most everything that isn't manual labor does.

You cannot get that quality if you are living in a world of distraction.

Every time the messenger goes ding, it snaps you out of the state of concentration and it can cost you a half-hour or longer to get your focus back.

If you're trying to get things done at all, let alone anything creative or intellectual that requires deep thinking, you just can't do it with a smartphone in your face, emails open and notifications on.

That argument is all mainly about how to be more productive on the job. Over on his blog he's been taking a much harder line against social media and always-on smartphones, mainly for their unwanted social and personal consequences.

(Just one example: my country officially banned phone-talking and texting while driving almost 10 years ago. There is not an hour of the day that I cannot look out my window, at the cars stopped at the light, and not see at least one driver or two looking down at their laps, texting away. What's so important that you can't focus on the road -- or even put the phone down to just enjoy the solitude?)

Some interesting recent posts in this vein:

On the Complicated Economics of Attention Capital - Study Hacks - Cal Newport

On the Rise of Digital Addiction Activism - Study Hacks - Cal Newport

On Seriously Rethinking the Digital Economy - Study Hacks - Cal Newport

Tim Wu on the Tyranny of Convenience - Study Hacks - Cal Newport

On Social Media and Its Discontents - Study Hacks - Cal Newport

 

[Kak]

I like Facebook.

Hahahahahahaha! Great post!

I still F*cking hate Facebook.

 

[Kak]

I don’t give a shit if Facebook could make me money. I’ll find a different way to make money than cutting Facebook in on my efforts.

None of my businesses currently mesh with Facebook for advertising anyway.

 

[Andy Black]

So I find out today that someone is impersonating me on Facebook and sending all my contacts SCAM messages via Facebook Messenger. And because it's messenger and not a profile, it continues to happen.

You think Facebook has an easy way to report this?

Nope.

And now I'm forced to login into Facebook and spend MY valuable time trying to fix it.

f*ck Facebook.

Whoa?!?! The gall of people.

It wouldn't even occur to me to impersonate someone on Facebook. If these scumbags are smart enough to think of cr@p like that, then surely they're smart enough to build a legit business?

Low lifes...

 

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[Parker fields]

I've mentally left facebook for a little over a year now. It is very nice not being tied to any "Social" media, especially when it just waste our time. I literally only have my account now for selling, and group research. Which I log onto to look at maybe 1-2 times a week for 5 minutes at a time. I could go 2 years without seeing facebook again and think I could die happy.

Facebook is straight up evil. I've been using the "News Feed Eradicator" extension for over a year.

Need to look into this. haha Could start a new trend with it.

 

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[GPM]

I deleted my Facebook for a few months. It was the best thing I ever did.


Then i started my business. And I need my Facebook groups to talk to my customers and get sales.

I am tempted to make a second account that has no friends solely to be the admin of these groups...

I found Facebook to be cancerous and damaging to my health and so I deleted it in 2011.

In 2016 I made a new account which does not contain my full real name. I have 1 childhood friend on it (who I keep trying to get in to business or some sort for himself), and my wife (so that she can keep tabs on me haha, tricks on her, I rarely use it). I signed up after my first Event, and for the sole purpose of keeping in touch with those who I became friends with in my new business circle of friends.

It has since been handy in finding housing for an LA meetup, and the 2018 meetup. Other than that I don't use it. In fact, I have not even been on it since the Event in February, and I probably won't be on it for another month or so since I have better things to do with my time.

 

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[BNeumann]

Just saying...

Guess I'm the early adopter here.

I've deleted Facebook from my minds-eye a couple years ago. I still have the accounts, but me visiting Facebook is like me going to the Mutual Fund retirement conference.

And if you want to help me out besides the ten dollars you spent on my book(s), visiting THE FORUM and contributing HERE over Facebook helps me tremendously.

Mark Zuckerberg don't give a sh*t about you.

I do.

I ONLY just started FB last year. Only to see whether or not it would work as a platform. My significant other has been on there since it began but I've paid NO attention to it whatsoever. It's interesting to see how it has changed. But is is also interesting to how a "latecomer" can learn from the behavior on this platform. FB is not reality. So that's what people expect now. Virtual Reality. The platform has many problems that deal with basic human wants and needs and it fails to deliver. But some have figured out HOW to deliver on that platform. They take advantage of the SCRIPTED mind. If you follow this forums GOLD threads you will find out why. FB is designed for the masses, not for the ones who want to change the masses.

 

[Maxboost]

Ya Im tempted to leave, even with my group.

Fox your group is the only reason I log on to Facebook. Maybe start a forum like this one? I have learned some pain points from other members but I can't stand logging in...Every time we log in we make that slimeball Zuckerburg richer...

 

[MJ DeMarco]

The number one time-drain in America isn't TV, its Facebook.

Besides all that I keep coming back to Cal Newport's thoughts on this topic: the less time on social media the better.

Haven't read his book, but I'm guessing he's taken a position similar to mine, that being, having a smartphone duct-taped to one's face isn't good for your life?

 

[GravyBoat]

I am tempted to make a second account that has no friends solely to be the admin of these groups...

I'm under the impression that I HAVE to have a personal Facebook account in order to run Facebook ads, which are essential to my business. I made a second "fake" account with only 1 or 2 friends to run ads, but it was quickly banned. They asked me to upload a photo ID, which I did, but then I got no reply. I had to re-activate my personal one and it works fine now.

I wasn't the most social butterfly in college though, so there's that...

If you're in the college party scene, FB is crucial. Either that or making sure all of your friends are on the party pages and just let you know instead. Again, MASSIVE distraction.

I've deleted my FB several times throughout the years. I currently have one solely because of running ads. I have deleted all of my friends and only have my mom, grandma, and the likes as my friends, and have them all "Unfollowed" so I don't see their posts. My newsfeed consists purely of groups that I'm in (Facebook ad groups mostly, business groups), and of course, ads I'm being shown.

I STILL get sucked into the videos on it and other garbage. It's designed this way.

If anyone knows of a way to still run FB ads on a throwaway account without getting banned within a month, PLEASE let me know. Life without social media is MUCH better. Less jealousy, you might not even know it, but it's subconscious and DOES effect you. FAR less drama. FAR less BS.

 

[Xavier X]

I'm not addicted to FB, or any social media, so no real need to delete it.. yet.
I check FB once or twice a day, amounting to less than 10 mins total.

I do have a major problem with their page engagement algorithm though.
I still owe them almost $150 for ads, but f*ck em.

While I can easily pay it, I've decided not to, because I feel I was swindled.

Like being told at the door of a club that there's so much fun and dancing inside, once you pay this here cover charge.
All excited, you pay up and go in with a wide grin. You approach the first hottie and boogie down to your heart's content. You think, "wow! This is great."

You do the electric slide toward the next hottie, but out of the darkness, the bouncer blocks you.
He says "sorry Mr. Electric Slide McGee, but it'll be $5 per person you dance with from here on out. You're free to dance by yourself all you want, but almost no one will see you or join in."

This is exactly how I felt about one of my business pages in 2013. FB sold me on optimizing ads to get followers who would ENGAGE. I did just that, and the engagement was great for about 1-2 months, then they made that algo change. Suddenly, almost no one could see the posts anymore. A reach of <1% of my 22k people per post.

I had already paid over $1k for ads, but as that happened, I've been looking at the remaining balance sitting there, as a f*ck you to them.

 

[MHP368]

Facebook is straight up evil. I've been using the "News Feed Eradicator" extension for over a year, which replaces your entire news feed with a motivational quote. I keep it for groups and to discover opportunities and hone my ideas from relevant communities. No sympathy for any "difficulties" they're having now.

What I did years back was literally just block everyone who isnt immediate family , now its basically a rolodex and a feed of hobbyist groups (well and advertisements I guess)

 

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