facebook exodus

It wasn’t a compliment when an acquaintance told me that I live more of my life online than anyone else she knows. These words have been haunting me lately as I examine my life and my priorities. Then I read “Facebook Exodus” on NYTimes.com, this quote in particular:

“The more dependent we allow ourselves to become to something like Facebook — and Facebook does everything in its power to make you more dependent — the more Facebook can and does abuse us,” Harmsen explained by indignant e-mail. “It is not ‘your’ Facebook profile. It is Facebook’s profile about you.”

Facebook isn’t the first, nor will it be the last, online community to be abandoned en masse. Will we divulge even more of ourselves via the next, or will we begin to withdraw in favor of offline connection?

About Halsted M. Bernard

Halsted, a/k/a cygnoir, does stuff with words. Her favourite things to do with words are keeping this diary, writing stories, and organising information. She lives in Edinburgh with her husband, two cats, a few gadgets, several fountain pens, and many books.

Posted on 1 Sep 2009 in Diary
  • http://www.wireheadarts.com/ Wirehead

    The part that bugs me is that the best and most popular site for letting you merge the bits and pieces of different services into a “profile”, FriendFeed, is now owned by Facebook. :/

    • http://cygnoir.net cygnoir

      I am similarly bummed, Wirehead.

  • http://flickr.com/kevbo Kevbo

    Yes, I too dislike seeing the merger of social nets/targeting/profiling companies. But I’m always shaking my head at the people who are surprised when they’re told or figure out they’ve provided marketing information about themselves. Duh. Why do you think the “Rack or Crack” quiz wanted access to your profile? Did you not notice the ads, if you strangely did not have them blocked with AdBlockPlus and NoScript, are related to what you posted or became a fan of? Some people were born yesterday apparently.

    I highly doubt there will be a major exodus of facebook anytime soon. It now appeals to a less finicky, older, more brand-faithful crowd than it used to do. I think the people in the NYT story that are abandoning it are either lacking in self-control, new to the web or merely inexperienced or too impatient to tweak facebook into what they want it to be. You don’t have to connect to anyone you don’t want to. You don’t have to play games. You don’t have to dress up your page with gadgets and fan items. You don’t have to provide much more than your name. The alleged deserters strike me as people who would say “Damn. No one told me this crack was so addictive!”

    • http://cygnoir.net cygnoir

      Once again, Kevbo, you manage to be insightful and witty at once. What are you, a Facebook-lover? ;)