Dave quits Facebook.

I don't think I'll delete my account any time soon, because it helps me keep up with birthday greetings and addresses, but it's just not very interesting to me as a reader or a publisher.

Comments

[If Bill Yaner N]

I think a lot of us have seen pretty clearly by now the limitations of this medium. Postings coming from any kind of thought process sit there like a penny in a parking lot (with thanks to Band Perry), while pictures of babies or pets or comments about going shopping today inspire a tsunami of heart felt comments.

And then there are all those corporations who have tapped into its advertising potential....as if we need more help deciding which products to buy.

Thanks Facebook for the initiative to bring social networking to the millions. Your days, though, are numbered. Such is life in the fast lane (guaranteed to blow your mind).

[Mad Dog]

I joined Facebook only because a high school buddy had a double lung transplant. Facebook was perfect for posting his progress during the most difficult time of his life.

He has fully recovered and Facebook has served its purpose. Time for me to delete my account as well.

BTW, I am WAY past college age for social networking.

MD

[Lex]

Effective 11/22 I won't be able to port blog posts over there automatically anymore. Not a big deal in and of itself, but it's part of a larger, user-hostile pattern.

[Jim Buie]

FB's "days are numbered"? What makes you think that, Bill? They're moving toward one billion users worldwide. Once people have been tagged in a photo, or their loved ones have been tagged in photos, or they've uploaded photos, they're not likely to leave.

That said, the FB newsfeed needs fairly frequent weeding, sorting and filtering to keep the signal to noise ratio interesting. Kind of like gardening that you didn't sign up for. I do find more nuggets on FB than say, most days reading a local/regional NC newspaper. FB's partnership with Spotify music-sharing and np/mag article sharing apps have led to some good discoveries. I rarely check my RSS news syndication feeds anymore because of FB.

There are a lot more geeks on Google Plus. I've found the conversations on G+ frequently more interesting than on FB. But since most friends and family aren't on G+ and aren't likely to go there, the important stuff has to go on FB.

[Ed Cone]

I agree that FB isn't going anywhere soon, although the number of active users is not equal to the enormous subscriber base, and some of its strategies for monetization are not working that well.

The idea that "the important stuff has to go on FB" is interesting. Maybe the important stuff doesn't have to go on a mass market social network at all, and at least some of the hypersharing culture we now take for granted will be looked back upon as a fad.

I can see myself going dark at some point in terms of public presence on the internet.

[Jim Buie]

I'd rather eliminate email than social network(s). I get way too much email -- only open about half of it, if that. I'm trying to move as much bulk email announcements onto a FB folder or list as possible.

Paul Jones' experiment in giving up email intrigues me.

The organization of newsfeeds in both FB and G+ has got to improve, and the privacy settings have to become more intuitive.

By "important stuff," I mean photos, videos and news from family and close friends. That's the compelling reason to stay on Facebook. In ways, I envy the people who've limited their Facebook acceptances to only those closest to them. But alas, my FB is way too far gone for that now, so I'm stuck with this rather daunting data management problem, trying to keep up with "feeds" from way more than the 150 people researchers say we humans are capable of maintaining friendships with.

[Ed Cone]

I accept a lot of friend requests, but I unsubscribe from the news feeds of people I don't actually know, and it's still more info than I care about or can process. And I have little urge to share my own personal life there (or, for the most part, here).

I know you got a ton of value out of FB while living abroad, JB, and I suspect I'd have felt the same way. It will be interesting to see how that carries over as repatriated life goes on.

[Jim Buie]

I'm still abroad, Ed. We've moved to the strange little country known as the United Arab Emirates (on the Arabian/Persian Gulf) due to offers that couldn't be refused. The American dream still lives for Americans, albeit outside the US. About 80% of the residents of this country are from somewhere else, and in six weeks, I haven't actually gotten to know any Emirates. They are apparently the power behind the scenes, living behind walls. Our neighbors are Brits, Aussies, Americans and Anglo-Indians. The taxi drivers are mostly Pakistanis and Afghanis. My son attends a school with 40 nationalities and is growing up with a sense of being a citizen of the world. Quite different from the life he would have had in Chatham County. So, to stay on point, Facebook still offers routine access to "home." Doubt I could have happily managed this life before the Internet.