Sorry Mr Zuckerberg but I have quit Facebook.
My exit from your monumentalactic social network will no doubt have no affect on your user count but I have quit Facebook after using it since what only seems now as the middle ages.
In fact back in the day, Facebook was so exclusive that I needed my @bham.ac.uk address to register unlike now where anyone and everyone can join - whether that's good or bad is a different story and one I'm not going to get drawn into (maybe some other time). When I started off, I found a few people from uni, I friend requested them, then some added me and before I knew I had a few hundred 'friends' in my very own online social network circle; 'friends' (or acquaintances at the very best) that I could rely on to like or comment on my posts, check-ins or private photos.
Facebook at the time seemed like it was a working product that did something when you clicked as opposed to the good old Orkut, which was riddled with problems and had users ostensibly only from Brazil & Pakistan, although in the interest of a balanced blog (I know!), I should state that both issues are mutually exclusive.
Coming back to the topic here, I decided that over the past few years, I have shared or un-shared (if there is such a thing) a great deal of my private life on the website. I know some would argue that you can or should exercise discretion to avoid private photos or posts but then some people feel obliged to share every daily detail of their life by checking in.
What I am saying is do I really want to know that a distant acquaintance is having fun out on the beach while I am stuck at work with non stop rain making it a mission to even stroll to the nearby Tesco's, or if the guy you really hated at school has bought the one car that you really liked and you want to punch him in the face but you can't. Hey, I am just putting it all out there and maybe that is the kind of people I was friends with on Facebook - sad but true.
Ok, here I am not suggesting this is Facebook's problem. What is, however, Facebook's problem is greed. In the words of the great Gordon Gekko, 'Greed, for a lack of a better word, is good.' With non-existent tangible assets, how on Earth did Facebook expect a valuation of over $100bn. Maybe it took Gekko's quote and its understanding of greed to the next level but it should be noted that although social networking is not new, there is no denying that Facebook has done to social networking what iPod did to the mp3 players, it has made an industry around its product. All said, the magnificent market forces have been in play to reflect the true value of this social networking giant and bringing its value down to a more 'reasonable' figure, which I think is still quite high.
Having quit Facebook, my life is no better or no worse. In absence of a better way to put this, I do not get updates from people I could care less about and quitting has not stopped me from being in touch with my closest friends and family (although I feel Apple deserves some credit here).
My blog today is a reflection on my ideas towards Facebook right now. I might go back to it, I might not. Staying in touch for some people is a necessity, through Facebook in absence of another. This is not a campaign and you should have your own reasons to leave or continue with.
As always, discretion advised...
My exit from your monumentalactic social network will no doubt have no affect on your user count but I have quit Facebook after using it since what only seems now as the middle ages.
In fact back in the day, Facebook was so exclusive that I needed my @bham.ac.uk address to register unlike now where anyone and everyone can join - whether that's good or bad is a different story and one I'm not going to get drawn into (maybe some other time). When I started off, I found a few people from uni, I friend requested them, then some added me and before I knew I had a few hundred 'friends' in my very own online social network circle; 'friends' (or acquaintances at the very best) that I could rely on to like or comment on my posts, check-ins or private photos.
Facebook at the time seemed like it was a working product that did something when you clicked as opposed to the good old Orkut, which was riddled with problems and had users ostensibly only from Brazil & Pakistan, although in the interest of a balanced blog (I know!), I should state that both issues are mutually exclusive.
Coming back to the topic here, I decided that over the past few years, I have shared or un-shared (if there is such a thing) a great deal of my private life on the website. I know some would argue that you can or should exercise discretion to avoid private photos or posts but then some people feel obliged to share every daily detail of their life by checking in.
What I am saying is do I really want to know that a distant acquaintance is having fun out on the beach while I am stuck at work with non stop rain making it a mission to even stroll to the nearby Tesco's, or if the guy you really hated at school has bought the one car that you really liked and you want to punch him in the face but you can't. Hey, I am just putting it all out there and maybe that is the kind of people I was friends with on Facebook - sad but true.
Ok, here I am not suggesting this is Facebook's problem. What is, however, Facebook's problem is greed. In the words of the great Gordon Gekko, 'Greed, for a lack of a better word, is good.' With non-existent tangible assets, how on Earth did Facebook expect a valuation of over $100bn. Maybe it took Gekko's quote and its understanding of greed to the next level but it should be noted that although social networking is not new, there is no denying that Facebook has done to social networking what iPod did to the mp3 players, it has made an industry around its product. All said, the magnificent market forces have been in play to reflect the true value of this social networking giant and bringing its value down to a more 'reasonable' figure, which I think is still quite high.
Having quit Facebook, my life is no better or no worse. In absence of a better way to put this, I do not get updates from people I could care less about and quitting has not stopped me from being in touch with my closest friends and family (although I feel Apple deserves some credit here).
My blog today is a reflection on my ideas towards Facebook right now. I might go back to it, I might not. Staying in touch for some people is a necessity, through Facebook in absence of another. This is not a campaign and you should have your own reasons to leave or continue with.
As always, discretion advised...