Deleting Facebook
It takes two weeks for Facebook to delete your account, that is, if you can figure out how to ask them to do so. One can ask them to “deactivate” an account, but that is not the same as deleting an account. As the word deactivate indicates, when your account is deactivated, it still exists. It can be re-activated. Deletion is elimination. It probably exists somewhere, so that Facebook can still monetize your data, but after two weeks, and that is two weeks where you do not attempt to access your old account, either accidentally, or change your mind, that account will be deleted.
Farewell, for the moment, to those “friends” on Facebook who have accepted my “friend request”. Some are actual friends, some acquaintances, some people who I knew from various jobs, some close and distant family members. Like anybody else, some family members are more like friends or acquaintances, and some friends are more like family. I will not be able to view your likes and dislikes, your dog photos, you cutest-baby-in-the-world photos. Nor will I be able to see those clever posts that you have shared done by people quicker and more creative than me.
Facebook shared those fun quizzes that are actually personality tests. Tests whose results were stolen, along with our “friends” accounts, psychologically weaponized and sold to the highest bidder. As various media outlets have reported, losing political campaigns attempted and failed to use that data to their advantage. The worst of those campaigns won, though. It began using that data before the current President knew he was running for office. Using that data was technically legal. It remains to be seen whether cooperatively using Russian psychological experts to manipulate Trump’s base and uncommitted, fence sitting, potential Clinton voters was legal.
Facebook did not sell that data to the Trump campaign. But they did cover up the loss of that and much more data extraction. They still are, and it is still legal. Google and other tech giants have done it and will continue to do it. But deleting my account is my butterfly wing flutter. It is my cry of BS to Mark Zuckerberg and his saying he is sorry and will try to do better. Mark, if you are truly sorry, give the DNC ten billion dollars for the mid-terms.
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Google and Twitter could be next. For now, I delete Facebook and urge all other users to do the same. Legislation or legal action against Facebook as a monopoly will not be effective. Deleting and shunning it will, eventually. My action is personal activism.
