Deleting my Facebook

[Kayladay]

Facebook is a tool, and so is Myspace, plus any of the other social interaction networks. Catholic Answers Forums is a tool too, by the way.

Therefore, with any tool its how you use it.

Saying that these social networks are “for my own personal vanity” is also implying that the tome of any opus is for the vanity of the author.

Yes, some of those that use these networks will abuse it…

I couldn’t have said it any better. This statement is spot on.

It is sad how some people use a technological medium as the excuse to say that is the reason for their failures or shortcomings. For example, if you fall prey to joining in malicious gossip/comments on Facebook, chances are that you also have a tendency to do that in real life…

Facebook can be an extremely useful tool. Our Diocese uses it to keep parishioners informed, many parishes are able to reach a wide audience with church news, the USCCB has many insightful posts, etc.

How many on here know that even CAF has a page on Facebook?

 

[Nick_in_MB]

How many on here know that even CAF has a page on Facebook?

I did not know that. I’ll have to look for it.

I had a Facebook friend who almost drove me to delete my account. Extremely negative; if there was something that was a matter of opinion and you didn’t agree with him, you were wrong. Example: He hated dogs. If you liked dogs, you were wrong.

It felt easier to just delete my FB account, since we have a bunch of mutual friends. But then I just decided to click the little X near his name, and that worked out great.

I use FB for other things than just talking. I rarely watch TV, but all the local stations have FB pages, so I get the news that way.

 

[Joe_5859]

I know people who have deleted their FB account. If that’s what you need to do, go for it.

I had a great circle of friends in both undergrad and grad school, so I have enjoyed staying connected with them, seeing pictures of the latest engagements, marriages, babies, and such. I would never have the time or wherewithal to keep in touch with them all through any other means.

That said, I purged all my applications when FB changed their privacy settings, I only friend people I actually know, I have my privacy settings such that “only friends” can see anything in my profile, and I seldom post status updates. I restrain myself from using FB as a soapbox and/or a means to vent when I am frustrated.

I was tempted to spend hours and hours on it when I first signed up, but once the novelty wore off, I check it about as often as I check my email: once a day if I’m lucky.

 

[whiteninja73]

um has anybody ever heard of PriestVille?

…I rest my case.

 

[Luigi_Daniele]

Yep, do it! It’s liberating!

My husband and I both deleted our accounts 2 weeks ago. I realized that I was checking it WAY too much, and using it in an unhealthy way- looking at people’s walls just to be snarky, getting into Facebook arguments with others, etc. I feel that it was just too much drama. As far as keeping in touch with friends, well, the friends that I’m really close to have my real e-mail address and phone number for catching up.

As a friend said, “Who cares if the guy you sat next to in French thinks it’s a nice day outside?”

99.9% of it is useless. I tried a couple of Benedictine groups, but they have little activity. Most of the rest of it is garbage and/or intrusive.

I like the forum format (like here) much better, TBH.

 

[stanncie]

I deleted my facebook account more than 8 months ago. I’m so glad I did it
Like the OP i found it full of drama and also a near occasion of sin for me. I’m by nature gossipy and would spend too much time looking at what everyone was doing. I also got a lot of info and content that I no longer agree with anymore. I had a lot of friends there from my past life who are kind people but very far from God.

Like another poster said, your true friends find a way to stay in touch with you through the phone or e-mail. I do find that sometimes i’m behind on the information loop. Just today I told my sister, hey X is in town and he went to the beach today and wants to get together this weekend. She’s like i knew all that he posted it in his account. I still got the info though through regular means cuz X called me since he knows i dont’ have facebook any longer.

If you are prudent and can use Facebook in a good holy way I say go ahead you have my admiration. It was not for me though.

 

[exoflare]

Yes, some of those that use these networks will abuse it

I agree that it’s only a tool in and of itself. However that “some” in your sentence there should read “most” based on my experience. I’m not sure why it is, but it’s never ceased to amaze me how facebook has managed to bring out the inner narcissist in just about 90% of the people I know on there. It was strange because most of them seemed quite normal in real life.

 

[Joe_5859]

I agree that it’s only a tool in and of itself. However that “some” in your sentence there should read “most” based on my experience. I’m not sure why it is, but it’s never ceased to amaze me how facebook has managed to bring out the inner narcissist in just about 90% of the people I know on there. It was strange because most of them seemed quite normal in real life.

I guess my experience is not the norm. I haven’t really been too surprised by anyone’s postings on FB from my friend list. The quirky people are still quirky. The immature people are still immature. The brusque people are still brusque. The Catholic people are still Catholic. Everyone’s pretty much exactly how I remember them.

 

[Sweet_Kate]

I deleted my Facebook page about 10 months ago when I started having problems with my computer. Evidently viruses can be introduced to some “groups” thus making their way to your computer. I was advised to delete my account by my compute guy.

 

[Junebug999]

I had deleted my account some time ago. I just don’t have time…it’s hard to find enough real time with friends and family without being on the internet with a bunch of people. Sure, I get curious about it sometimes because people are using it more than ever BUT I’d not start it up again unless my work is done,my house work is done, I have read my Divine Office, said Rosary, and attended Mass that day. If I’m not doing those things and on Facebook, then I figure I have a priority problem …

And my sis hires people and says they do extensive computer checks, including myspace and facebook…sometimes people do things on computer they would never do in real life. My godmother’s hub sent me a joke about priest and nuns recently that had a graphic in it of a nun in only a bikini bottom!!! I talked him about it two days ago, and he said he never sent it and a virus had probably attacked his computer…yeah RIGHT. (His emails now go straight to trash…there were other things he had sent I didn’t like either…stuff that sounded like putting down women, etc.)

So…it’s surprising how people will say/do things on a computer they HOPEfully wouldn’t do in real life!

 

[NewsTheMan]

I deleted my facebook account more than 8 months ago. I’m so glad I did it
Like the OP i found it full of drama and also a near occasion of sin for me. I’m by nature gossipy and would spend too much time looking at what everyone was doing. I also got a lot of info and content that I no longer agree with anymore. I had a lot of friends there from my past life who are kind people but very far from God.

Like another poster said, your true friends find a way to stay in touch with you through the phone or e-mail. I do find that sometimes i’m behind on the information loop. Just today I told my sister, hey X is in town and he went to the beach today and wants to get together this weekend. She’s like i knew all that he posted it in his account. I still got the info though through regular means cuz X called me since he knows i dont’ have facebook any longer.

If you are prudent and can use Facebook in a good holy way I say go ahead you have my admiration. It was not for me though.

Yeah this is basically my stance.

I was using Facebook to check up on people, gossip, etc. And I knew it was wrong and silly.

Most of all, I hate what it has become. Most of my friends are 18-22 and secular in a big way, so statuses and photos were pretty much disgusting (really). People were posting basically naked photos, group orgy type photos, statuses about the Pope being a pervert, and generally stuff that I thought “wait, why am I even reading this?”. I had over 400 friends, half of whom I wouldn’t stop to have a conversation with. It was ridiculous.

I agree, to keep in contact with family and good friends in may be good, but even then, really? We have email and cellphones for those people. I may start a new account in a few months or a year when I decide to leave South Africa. But for now I really don’t want it.

Also, the more I used Facebook the more I started disliking the people I knew. As someone posted, the internet gives people license to go wild in a way. It’s like you can have two personalities and nobody questions it! Even I was doing it man! I had a group of friends that would post these immature little things on each others walls literally 15 times a day and it made me angry! I had friends who would say horrible things on their status’s. I dunno. I just felt like Facebook wasn’t a good part of my life; I needed to cut it off because it was a disease. And to be honest I think it is a disease for most people, this sudden new narccissism - everybody wants to know what you think or what you do and 90% of photos are of yourself posing. I mean come on, its Generation Y, we take nice things and abuse them, what else can you expect!

 

[Sweet_Kate]

I had deleted my account some time ago. I just don’t have time…it’s hard to find enough real time with friends and family without being on the internet with a bunch of people. Sure, I get curious about it sometimes because people are using it more than ever BUT I’d not start it up again unless my work is done,my house work is done, I have read my Divine Office, said Rosary, and attended Mass that day. If I’m not doing those things and on Facebook, then I figure I have a priority problem …

And my sis hires people and says they do extensive computer checks, including myspace and facebook…sometimes people do things on computer they would never do in real life. My godmother’s hub sent me a joke about priest and nuns recently that had a graphic in it of a nun in only a bikini bottom!!! I talked him about it two days ago, and he said he never sent it and a virus had probably attacked his computer…yeah RIGHT. (His emails now go straight to trash…there were other things he had sent I didn’t like either…stuff that sounded like putting down women, etc.)

So…it’s surprising how people will say/do things on a computer they HOPEfully wouldn’t do in real life!

This does happen. A virus invaded my son’s email address book. He discovered it when someone responded to an email he hadn’t sent.

 

[exoflare]

Also, the more I used Facebook the more I started disliking the people I knew.

I can definitely relate to that. Some things were just meant to be kept private, or go without saying, and now it’s like facebook has actively conditioned people to post (broadcast) any little thing that pops up in their minds as if it’s some big news. It makes them seem more shallow and attention seeking than maybe they really are IRL, but it’s still difficult to shake the new bad impressions I’ve formed of some people I know now.

 

[Charlotte408]

Anybody else done this? I am about to do it

I realised its only a platform for my own vanity and others’ too. And I don’t ever speak to people, and hardly know most of them anymore!

I disagree!!

Oh contrare monfrare… <— LMBO I think thats how it goes…

In business, they say that if you have 1 happy customer, they’ll probably tell 2 friends, but if you have 1 unhappy customer, he’ll end up telling like 10 people.

This is what I think. I learned a BIG TIME valuable lesson from the Obama Camp. They totally utilized social networks, the internet, forums, any and everything that is ‘social networking’.

I learned, that you can use those tactics AGAINST them, well, not even against THEM, but, FOR US. You know what I mean? From the comments section on yahoo news articles, to facebook, to myspace, to ANY social networking place…the more places you post, the more people read, the more they spread the word like wildfire.

I like to call it, reversing culture. I noticed too, that, when I start on a new forum, at first I’m met with resistance, but once I get a foothold, get to know some regular posters, and am there continually giving answers to their questions, always being charitable, by the time I leave- I’ve made an impact.

I just changed my POV, at first, facebook was JUST friends. And it got kinda boring. But then, after adding like a zillion people from all over the world, man my facebook is off the hook! and everyday there’s something to address. For example, the other day some dude was talking about how if someone’s child is diagnosed with down syndrome, they should be FORCED to have an abortion, as its the only MORAL thing to do.

I had no idea that anyone would ever think such a thing.Yeah you really gotta expand your social circle- its bad out there. And thats why we need to be out there, networking, in the mix…people see nothing but this negative bad **** and think thats what life is nowadays so fudge it. We need to ‘be that light in this dark world’.

 

[Joe_5859]

I talked him about it two days ago, and he said he never sent it and a virus had probably attacked his computer…yeah RIGHT. (

I wouldn’t discount that possibility entirely. From what I have heard, Facebook is one of the easier venues to hack. I’ve had several friends send spam via their FB account and I know they didn’t send it. One of my friends who is a very intellectual guy, reads vociferously, etc. sent a message “Look at these cewl pics!” with a link to click on. I knew right away that could never be him.

That’s why I stay away from those third party applications on FB. That can open up your profile to security issues that you wouldn’t otherwise have.

 

[Joe_5859]

I agree, to keep in contact with family and good friends in may be good, but even then, really? We have email and cellphones for those people.

I’m sorry, but I just had to chuckle at this. I’m sure that fifteen years ago, people were saying “Email and cellphones? Really? Why not just use regular mail and home phones to keep in touch with the important people. What could ever be so urgent to say that you can’t wait a few days or even wait until you get home to say it?”

Just sayin’…

 

[Holly3278]

I have heard that recently there has been a mass exodus from Facebook. I’m not really sure why though. I guess it has something to do with privacy issues. Anyway, I do have a Facebook account and I plan to keep it. I probably won’t get rid of it unless they begin to charge for the service or something. It’s a very good way for me to keep in touch with friends and family and plus I love all of the games and groups you can get involved in on there!

 

[exoflare]

I’m sorry, but I just had to chuckle at this. I’m sure that fifteen years ago, people were saying "Email and cellphones? Really? Why not just use regular mail and home phones to keep in touch with the important people.

They were probably embarrassed when they realized all the savings on postage and phone bills gave a clear reason “why not”.

Facebook, on the other hand…

 

[exoflare]

Oh contrare monfrare… <— LMBO I think thats how it goes…

:doh2:

In business, they say that if you have 1 happy customer, they’ll probably tell 2 friends, but if you have 1 unhappy customer, he’ll end up telling like 10 people.

This is what I think. I learned a BIG TIME valuable lesson from the Obama Camp. They totally utilized social networks, the internet, forums, any and everything that is ‘social networking’.

I learned, that you can use those tactics AGAINST them, well, not even against THEM, but, FOR US. You know what I mean? From the comments section on yahoo news articles, to facebook, to myspace, to ANY social networking place…the more places you post, the more people read, the more they spread the word like wildfire.

I like to call it, reversing culture. I noticed too, that, when I start on a new forum, at first I’m met with resistance, but once I get a foothold, get to know some regular posters, and am there continually giving answers to their questions, always being charitable, by the time I leave- I’ve made an impact.

I just changed my POV, at first, facebook was JUST friends. And it got kinda boring. But then, after adding like a zillion people from all over the world, man my facebook is off the hook! and everyday there’s something to address. For example, the other day some dude was talking about how if someone’s child is diagnosed with down syndrome, they should be FORCED to have an abortion, as its the only MORAL thing to do.

I had no idea that anyone would ever think such a thing.Yeah you really gotta expand your social circle- its bad out there. And thats why we need to be out there, networking, in the mix…people see nothing but this negative bad **** and think thats what life is nowadays so fudge it. We need to ‘be that light in this dark world’.

I had thought about this too… along the lines of “why can’t we use the same tactics against leftists that they use on everyone?” but I was a little discouraged to remember that it’s much easier to package up evil than good as being glamorous or trendy, so this is what I attributed the success of all the hollow slogans and warm fuzzy feelings to. If you’ve had success with it yourself, though, I guess at least it’s possible so maybe I’ll have to rethink my opinions on the usefulness of facebook after all.

 

[Janet1983]

Anybody else done this? I am about to do it

I realised its only a platform for my own vanity and others’ too. And I don’t ever speak to people, and hardly know most of them anymore!

Well I hardly ever use Facebook, but I guess I have to keep it. It’s the cheapest way to keep in contact with my mom and my sister and to know how they are doing.
International calls are just insanely expensive to my mind.

I guess it’s because I am married to the military and can’t just go over to see them or my friends from school or the dear friends from the last place we lived at (many of whom are now living all over the US, Germany, Belgium, Korea and Japan).