Pneumatised!

Okay, here’s how to get rid of Facebook. I just did it, so this is current as of this blog post.

Before deleting your account, make sure you have unchecked any email notifications (they apparently still notify you of some things if you only deactivate the account; I’m not sure if they will do this during the 14 days while you wait for your account to be permanently deleted, but I personally prefer to not receive any more emails after I leave) and removed any connected sites that send information to Facebook (such as Twitter) as any information getting sent to your account will keep it “live”. I thought I read somewhere that you may want to delete your browser’s history, and cache, and cookies collected. I don’t have my web browser automatically signing into Facebook. Maybe some apps on the mobile phones do… if so, make sure to remove Facebook from your phone. (The Google Nexus One has a Facebook app installed, and I can’t figure out how to remove it, but I can sign in and out. As long as I stay signed out, it’s fine.)

So, here’s how to delete your Facebook.

1. Sign in and click on the “Account” drop-down menu.
2. Click on “Help Center”.
3. Click on “Privacy”.
4. Click on “Deactivating, Deleting and Memorializing accounts”.

Under the “Deleting Accounts” section, it says:

“What happens when my account has a pending deletion request?
Once you have submitted a request to permanently delete your account, no further action is required on your end. Our system delays the deletion process in case you change your mind and no longer want to permanently delete your account. Note that logging in to your account again will undo a pending deletion request.

Once your account is permanently deleted, there is no way to undo this action. You will not be able to reactivate the account or retrieve any of the content or information you have added to it.
/help/?faq=15665”

and

“How do I permanently delete my account?
If you deactivate your account from the “Deactivate Account” section on the Account page, your profile and all information associated with it are immediately made inaccessible to other Facebook users. What this means is that you effectively disappear from the Facebook service. However, if you want to reactivate at some point, we do save your profile information (friends, photos, interests, etc.), and your account will look just the way it did when you deactivated if you decide to reactivate it. Many users deactivate their accounts for temporary reasons and expect their information to be there when they return to the service.

If you do not think you will use Facebook again and would like your account deleted, please keep in mind that you will not be able to reactivate your account or retrieve any of the content or information you have added. If you would like your account permanently deleted with no option for recovery, log in to your account and then submit your request by clicking here.

If you are currently unable to access your account, you will need to reset your password in order to log in. In order to do so, click the “Forgot your password?” link that appears above the field where you would normally enter your password. Once you’ve followed the instructions to reset your password and can log in, you can deactivate or delete your account using the steps outlined above.
/help/?faq=13016”

(Note: if for some reason you can’t get the delete account page, try this url – https://ssl.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=delete_account.)

5. Click on the linked “here”, which goes to a page that says:

“Delete My Account
If you do not think you will use Facebook again and would like your account deleted, we can take care of this for you. Keep in mind that you will not be able to reactivate your account or retrieve any of the content or information you have added. If you would like your account deleted, then click “Submit.””

6. Click the “Submit” button.

7. Fill out the form that pops up. “You are about to permanently delete your account. Are you sure?” Enter your password and the two-word security check (two words appear in a picture, type them into the form box below the picture). Then, click the “Okay” button.

8. Next, a pop-up appears, “Permanently Delete Account”, which says “Your account has been deactivated from the site and will be permanently deleted within 14 days. If you log into your account within the next 14 days, your account will be reactivated and you will have the option to cancel your request.” Click the “Okay” button.

9. Finally! Do “the dance of joy”! You’re free!! 😀

Now, it’s back to a sane life. Need I remind people that for online “social networking”, we still have email and instant messenging. Sometimes, it’s good to get back to the basics.

~~~C
Your local webmistress and blogger (and recently Facebook escapee!)

Further to the blog entry just before this one, I have concluded that there is no point waiting any longer to be free of Facebook. Here are a few articles I found today regarding how to actually delete Facebook, not just deactivate, but to really delete it (I feel it is my duty to let my readers know).

First, read “Why Is It So Hard to Delete Your Facebook Account?”.

Next, is an interesting article from the Economist about one person’s experience with Facebook called “Fleeing Facebook”. As a point of interest, “No, the final straw was a new algorithm deployed by the site’s Live Feed feature that selected news stories based on the number of times the item had been noted by others. The result was a flood of garbage that could not be controlled. More than anything, it said the folks at Facebook just don’t get what user-control is all about.” Yup, thought so, it explains why I wasn’t getting a variety of news on all my friends, and you thought Facebook was supposed to help you keep in touch with everyone. Nope, only the attention wh*res were coming up on my newsfeed. I really wanted to give all my friends an equal chance of keeping in touch with me. I just hope no one is offended that I never commented on their newsfeeds that I probably never saw. It really is Facebook’s fault. Read the comment afterwards by “kid dingo”. Great news!

Finally, a tiny article that should make some people do “the dance of joy” – “”Sweaty” Zuckerberg defends Facebook”. Karma really is after his hide.

~~~C