Why leaving Facebook is the right thing to do

This article is about why I closed my Facebook account 2 months ago and why I feel it is one of the best decisions I have made in a very long time

I actually started writing this article before Facebook fell down from the sky. Not that I am surprised it is happening, but I am surprised it is happening so soon.

WHY DID I CLOSE DOWN MY FACEBOOK ACCOUNT?

There were several independent reasons why I decided to close down my facebook account, and when there were no good reasons for letting Facebook continue to make money on my data I decided to leave Facebook.

I did it gradually. I started unfriending all the people I had no communication with or where I had the communication on other platforms. Then  I made the last post on my Facebook feed, where I stated that I was going to leave in a couple of weeks time. I explained very briefly why I had decided to leave and ended the message by encouraging people to remain in touch as I would remain in touch. I am easy to find. I am the only one on this planet called Finn Majlergaard and I am a fairly public person so if people want to get in touch with me then just google me. It is as easy as that.

There were people who got offended when I unfriended them as if being connected on Facebook is the most important thing in this world. Their reaction just confirmed to me that my decision was right.

I decided to close my facebook account because:

• I could see how Facebook in very subtle ways manipulated me to crave for likes and comments and made me spend more and more time on Facebook. It is exactly like being in a relationship with another person where you suddenly realise that you have been manipulated over a long period of time. You feel incredibly stupid and naive.
• Facebooks involvement with Cambridge Analytica plus all the companies we haven’t heard about yet made me seriously angry. It was the first proof that Facebook has no moral or ethical compass.
• During the hearings in both USA and Europe Mark Zuckerberg managed to convince me that he had no clue he had done anything wrong. As a well-trained parrot, he said what his advisers had told him to, but there was no remorse at all. In my humble opinion, Mark Zuckerberg is less trustworthy than the worst used-car dealer.
• There was an extremely high degree of predictability in my Facebook feed. I knew what standpoint people had to everything and there were the same people posting the same kind of photos all the time. And I did the same. When is the last time you have taken a photo without sharing it on social media?
• I didn’t like the way Facebook censored what was shown to me in my feed. It gradually became totally irrelevant

THE RELIEF – FACEBOOK IS OUT OF MY LIFE

I thought I was going to miss it, but I have actually felt a great relief from day one. Social Media are supposed to bring people together, but I have observed that Facebook did the exact opposite. Instead of hooking up with people over an espresso or a glass of wine on the beach it often stopped with a brief interaction on Facebook. And when you needed to find people with specific skills you just posted a message in a relevant facebook group. Now I actually have to talk to people – often many people before I find the person with the right skills I am looking for. And in that process, a lot of wonderful things are happening. Things you couldn’t plan for or even imagine. It is a joy every single day without facebook.

FUCK YOU MARK ZUCKERBERG

Excuse my French, but that is actually what I think of him and his company. Yesterday they announced that their revenue growth will drop significantly because they are going to pay attention to their users’ privacy. Fuck you, Mark Zuckerberg, because it is not something you are doing because you know it is the natural thing to do. You only do it because you were caught with your pants down. Otherwise, you would still have been doing it and I will not be surprised if what we are seeing is only the tip of the iceberg.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

You are stupid too just like I was. I don’t recall who said it, but someone said; ” If something is free then you are the product”. I couldn’t agree more. You should go through the same thought process as I did and assess if all your personal information is worth sharing with the whole world in return for access to an app.

If you come to the same conclusion as I did, I will hope you get the same great experiences that I have got by returning more to real life.

I will be happy to hear about your experiences. And please share if you like