Saturday, January 8, 2011

I'm Off FaceBook

I feel free

22 comments:

  1. It's only a matter of time before you're sucked back in...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Maybe. I'm going to try to make it till next year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It can be a time suck, but it's nice to have when you live in a different town than most of your best friends.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've been off of Facebook for over a year now and its been great. My goal was to give it a year and if I made it, then I would consider whether I would hop back on. The year went quick and I suffered no ill effects, so it just made sense to keep on the track I was on. I don't think Facebook is evil or anything like that. If others get something out of the experience I am all for them enjoying it, but it was never very appealing to me. There may come a day where I have to go back for some professional reason, and if that's the case, I probably won't have a choice. If so, then I'll treat it like I do all work-related services. For the record, I also ditched Linked-In and Plaxo. I feel like these things are more dangerous to me as an employee than beneficial and I can't help but get the feeling we are all sharing too much private information nowadays. That's just the paranoid conspiracist in me talking, but I do feel better not divulging so much of my identity online.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think you're right Ronnie. Did you just deactivate or did you send the letter to erase the account?

    ReplyDelete
  6. So Ellis, where will you channel the freed up time and energy you've gained from giving up Facebook? More drawing time? A new comic book project?j Reading? A new hobby? More face-to-face time with friends?

    ReplyDelete
  7. My recollection with Facebook is deactivation is not the same as deletion. In other words, if you really want your account to disappear forever (and there's no telling how 'forever' it is with the internet and entities like Facebook, Google, et. al) you have to both deactivate and delete it. If you simply deactivate it, the next time you log in, even if it's a year from now, it will be like you never left. Facebook doesn't really advertise the deletion part of their service, but it's there if poke around a bit.

    This link seems consistent with what I remember doing to delete my Facebook account:

    Permanently Delete Facebook Account

    The most important thing, if you want to delete the account, is to not log-in to check on it. You have to stay out of Facebook for 14 days straight or you cancel the deletion. You can always delete again after that, but the 14-day period of waiting starts all over after that.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh, and one more thing I failed to mention is that I think you need to both deactivate and delete (in that order) to complete the process. I would think that a deletion would deactivate automatically, but part of the process, if I recall correctly, is to do things in the proper sequence.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for the link and the details Ronnie.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Christ, it ought to be illeagal to make it that complicated to delete.
    Now I want to delete it more than ever.

    ReplyDelete
  11. If I ever got totally frustrated with FB I would probably still keep Linkedin... that is my "professional" social platform, which is more of what it is meant to be. I got my job at PopCap because my future boss found me on Linkedin.

    I don't blame anyone for wanting to opt out of FB... I don't think it's for everyone and there are a lot of folks who have no filter when it comes to posts they make.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I just thought of something... if you are off of FB then you aren't going to know when the latest Nearsighted Comics cartoon has been posted! Your are my number one reader! What will I do without my audience! Whaaaug!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm going to rev up linkedin Rick. FB is totally for me. Like crack would be totally for me. Or buying candy bars by volume to stick in the freezer would be for me. My addictive nature has to be given harsh controls. I can't just say "Tuesday is Facebook day." Every day is facebook day if I've got it.
    Tom, I'll channel most of my energy into getting a job OR forming my own advertising storyboard company. I have to do some experiments with the look I think I could pull off. See what reaction I get from the storyboard brokers. Then do my own thing if I feel confident.

    ReplyDelete
  14. You should talk to Rick Hoberg... he's doing boards for the new Avengers show and having a blast doing it. He's come to a few TAG North meetings... really good guy who would probably be happy to talk to you.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Well Ronnie. I used your link and permanently deleted. Not without first reactivating of course. That's annoying. Now I stay off for 14 days and it's final. That also bugs me. Why not a day. Why two weeks. Any way. Done.

    Thanks for the Hoberg connection Rick. I may talk to him at some point.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Glad that link worked for you, Ellis. It is silly the way you have to have a cooling-off period to decide whether you want off of Facebook. I sometimes wonder what I'm missing, but based on my own contributions, I know it's probably not much.

    I agree LinkedIn and Plaxo make sense, Rick. I'm just not geared for this new world of social openness, I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I thought this little application seems germane to this thread. I'm very close to getting it.

    Freedom

    Both Mac and Win versions are available

    ReplyDelete
  18. There's even an application for Twitter and Social Applications like Facebook:

    Anti-Social

    Great ideas for productivity increases.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Ronnie, I'm seriously thinking about installing one of those. I'm just a little too robotic about the internet.

    Rick, we have a link to Near Sighted Comics on the blog. I'll stay up to date. Post them here for that matter. Just like maximum exposure for Cork.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Well at least now I don't feel so bad about procrastinating on that "Friend" request....

    ReplyDelete
  21. Ellis, you were one of my few friends not posting about their kids' hockey game on Long Island. Thanks for caricature clipjoint, it came at a rare time when I had the space and solitude to draw.
    Ron and Ellis, which place on cyberspace that you are still on has a current email or message function? If none, send me your email addresses to bmontag@san.rr.com.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Ben
    use gunnellis at yahoo

    "you know" dot com.

    I should have thought about caricature clip joint. The clips are still there. Just not our artwork

    ReplyDelete