Editorial: Why I Left Facebook After 7 Years, But Was Forced Back In

Sorry but I really don't understand how this constitutes as news Someone closes their Facebook account and then goes back to using it. Great. Why did it need a whole news article?

I'd drop Facebook if I could. But I was sort of pulled into it by my family.

What ticks me off is, in CNN's view, if you don't have a Facebook, you're antisocial... standing in front of a computer is more antisocial. I'd rather speak with those around me at a pub or what-have-you than constantly have app requests from lame games hurled at me by family members I don't even know.. and I can't even be my own freaking self.
I'd move to Google Plus if I could. Then you have certain circles. I can keep my close friends I can cuss with in one "circle" and my family I have to tiptoe through the tulips with in another.


I wish I could quit, but my guilty conscious would set in.

@JasonMyers. May I ask what is wrong with keeping in touch with family & friends via email?
I've never had a "real" facebook acct & see no point of one since I've been keeping in touch very well with ALL my family & friends via email.No guilty feelings either.

Different case with me. My boyfriend and I both have FB but we never communicate through it. We just IM like gtalk or skype, make call or video call and its realtime. I bet FB could not do this,at least not as convenience as IM.

The thing about Facebook I like is that you don't have to log in! You don't have to have 600 "friends". You don't have to accept annoying app invites/likes whatever the case. I too was there from the beginning and have mainly used Facebook to connect to friends locally and abroad. Sure we are getting bombarded by continuous adverts but we have the option to change that (to a certain degree). But those are really petty things.

It must be quite something that Facebook can affect a person like you to write an article about how happy you are and that you have left it. Sure, kudos to you for being a rebel and going against the flow, but I think your post on leaving Facebook is a bit of a hype and pretty lame in this day and age. Sure your post will probably sway a few people out there, but most people - just delete their account and move on.

Hi. I left facebook about a year ago and never looked back, the author's reasons sound like mine. Nothing in particular, I just started to become sort of... irritated with all of it. I told people it's like I lifted my head up, looked outside, then back at facebook and thought "what is this thing, what am I doing here." Anyway so now, and what led me to this article, is that a work related reunion is being organized via facebook. I can't really know the thinking, but it appears as if an assumption was made that "everyone" is on facebook. There is no alternate way of signing up, specifying guests, hotel info, blah. Well I'm not going to create an account to do whatever I'm supposed to, I'll just crash. Maybe I won't get a cool nametag or a special gift like a plaque. Heh, I will show them dammit. If anyone knows who I am or gives a crap.

I *personally* don't trust people who aren't on facebook. If I find out someone I know isn't on facebook, I'm MUCH less likely to want to befriend them in real life.

Facebook is just a tool to use. You don't even need to use every day, you can go 3 months without updating it if you want.

But not being on it altogether is to me a very Luddite and anti-social behavior. That's my honest opinion about it.

Most of the people in real life I found not being on facebook at all were either not very social people or not very caring about others, honestly.

I can only hope that you are spoofing the situation. You actually categorize those that choose not to 'Facebook' as anti social and "uncaring" of others in one broad sweeping generalization?
That may be the most ignorant, prejudiced, solipsistic and preposterous statements ever uttered on these forums.

For whatever other earthly reason do you propose it would be prefaced by, "Guest"?

Oh and BTW, "prejudice", in that context, needs to be in the past tense. I'm off now, to look up "solipsistic", as I have so many times in the past.....

Correct as usual. Thats why you are 'The word smith'. ***fixed**

Ah, that's so nice, you ol' silver tongued rascal!

The correct plural of "Thats", would be "those". (You omitted the a**-POS-trophy). (Still "smithing" my little heart out, I can't help myself. It must be "OCDinglish".

You are as handsome as you are wise...hehe
That's why you're the ' word smith' ...anything?

I was going to get rid of Facebook, several times. I strongly disagree that it is "teenagerish" (looks up that word). It does help me keep in touch with family without the extra expense of long distance, I am not much of a telephone person. Plus I have added people that I otherwise would not know that I would not want to lose contact with. They're not real life friends, but we share certain beliefs and I look forward to some of our conversations. I don't think this would be considered childish in any way. I block each and every app/game whatever that comes along without exception. I think I have just about every game that is available on Facebook (except the newest ones) blocked now so I rarely see requests anymore. Some of the posts can be annoying but like real life, some of what people say in person can be annoying, you just ignore it and move on.

I disagree with the statement someone made that people that don't use Facebook are anti-social. It's just not for everyone, some people prefer to talk to their friends in person, and I admit that I should probably do more "face time" than I do. But to not befriend someone because t hey don't use some website? That's going too far. It's just a tool, some people like different tools, some don't like tools at all. It doesn't make them anti-social, it just makes them different.

I got nothing. It's as pristine as a newborn's soul! It could be said of your post, "why, it's immaculately conceptualized"!