All the Cool Kids Are Quitting Facebook

[Dover]

By Adam Clark Estes | The Atlantic Wire –

The best reason to quit Facebook can be summed up in one quote from a 29-year-old in Jenna Wortham's latest item in The New York Times: "People always raise an eyebrow. But my life has gone on just fine without it." Like a lot of Times trend pieces, people have been talking about this phenomenon for ages. But Wortham's news peg is startling. Citing comScore Wortham reports that Facebook is continuing to grow in the United States, but after a 56 percent boost from October 2009 to October 2010, Facebook grew only ten percent from October 2010 to October of this year. Why? Well, Wortham gives a lot of reasons, quoting experts and so forth. But it's all very clear to us. To wear out that worn out Social Network quote a bit more: Joining Facebook isn't cool. You know what's cool? Quitting Facebook.

NYT Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/technology/shunning-facebook-and-living-to-tell-about-it.html?ref=technology&gwh=F14C742BEBC436A3185F687868D2B854

[shift happens]

1. Big whoop. I created a phony FB account

It's awesome! I have perfected the art of ferreting out info on people I know surreptitiously without having to asked to be 'friended' and all that pathetic crap.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

3. what to you plan to do with this info?

do have some nefarious plan in the making? lol

edited for a dumb typo.

[shift happens]

5. Um...no. Just looking up people from high school

without getting embroiled into the whole "will you accept me? please? please?" pathos.

I mean, let's face it: if you REALLY wanted to hook up with someone from your past, you could have done so.

[ileus]

83. I have at least 20 phony friends.

At least 20 people I know who also have real accounts have asked to be friends.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. I quit Facebook before quitting Facebook was cool

something like that in a country song. lol

[Matariki]

4. Facebook (and Twitter) have been very useful for the Occupy Movement

and for coordinating actions.

[shift happens]

6. Damn skippy!

Just ask the CIA!

[Luminous Animal]

28. Do you think that OWS cares? FB and Twitter are tools to publicize actions...

And all actions are openly discussed and democratically decided on whether the CIA, FBI, or local police are watching.

[shift happens]

29. Is there a ham radio equivalent of the Internet or texting?

I know OWS is not letting the CIA, Homeland Security, etc. stop them, but with that pending Senate bill, they should be very concerned. Even the protestors recently arrested in LA were held way too long. It's pretty scary, IMO, especially if you can be disappeared just like that.

But guess what? It's already been happening to Middle Eastern folk. But we all know that story about 'first they came for...'

[katty]

78. ha! indeed!

[frazzled]

8. Wouldn't a web page work as well?

I mean, how did people man the barricades and storm the Bastille during the French Revolution? If people want to coordinate an action they can do it with smoke signals. They've been doing it for centuries.

[Javaman]

47. Personally speaking...

I think the police oppression will get to such a point, that non-electronic means will be the way to go.

[tblue37]

7. I don't "do" anything or "have" anything on FB, but I joined so

I could look at photos and videos posted by friends and family. As soon as I joined, several old friends I had long lost track of got in touch with me to renew our acquaintance. I still don't actually use FB for anything but looking at pics and checking out what friends and family are up to, but I like being able to keep up with everyone so easily, with no real effort on my part.

[Beartracks]

10. That's it in a nutshell

Presuming that friends keep their FB accounts open, then it doesn't matter if one or both of you move several times, or if you keep losing eachother's phone numbers and addresses.

[GoCubsGo]

49. That's about the only reason I use it, too.

That, and it gives me access to free samples and grocery coupons that I wouldn't get otherwise.

I have no qualms about not "friending" every request that comes my way, either. I find it amusing that people who wouldn't give me the time of day 30-some years ago when we were in high school suddenly are interested in what I am up to now.

[Missy Vixen]

54. Thank you

>I find it amusing that people who wouldn't give me the time of day 30-some years ago when we were in high school suddenly are interested in what I am up to now.<

I have the same problem, and I now feel a little less alone.

My observations on the "friending": The classmates that didn't want to talk to me thirty years ago and are contacting me now are a) checking to see if my life has gone better than theirs, or b) want to brag about their own lives. They're not interested in me or what I'm doing.

[Johonny]

99. local places actually put up who is playing this weekend

and where there are meal specials and stuff. If you like to out locally I found facebook a nice thing.

[cyberswede]

9. The coolest kids never joined in the first place

...and now we can hide the social media thingies on DU posts - yay!

[Harmony Blue]

11. Agreed

The worst part is what facebook does with your data a.k.a. info. Some companies are upfront with their disclaimer but facebook is very sleezy about it.

[MrCoffee]

110. We can?!?!

How do we hide them?

On edit: I just figured it out...that is fantastic stuff right there.

[lady lib]

12. Well, I'm a Words with Friends addict so I'm not leaving.

And besides I have a sneaking suspicion that anything that I join (by the time I join it) will quickly become uncool as well. Story of my life

[ScreamingMeemie]

14. I have never been, nor have I ever wished to be, what amounts to "cool" these days...

It looks too much like what we used to call pompous assery.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

27. I do words with friends from my smartphone app... no FB account required.

[Control-Z]

81. You can play Words

without facebook. You know that, right?

[lady lib]

93. I do now. Thanks! nt

[Control-Z]

96. You're welcome!

I've got two games going right now. Had someone cut out on me yesterday after I made a 62 point word. I guess he/she couldn't handle the heat. LOL

So addictive!!

[lady lib]

107. 6 games going right now.

Whoever cut you out was a wimp and congrats on your 62 point word!

[ddeclue]

13. Umm growth is still growth.. It may simply be that the US market is saturated..

when the US membership actually declines that would be proof positive.

It may be possible that young people are quitting but this article doesn't really offer clear cut proof.

[tabasco]

15. I'm super cool!

Never signed up for that dumbass crap.

[quinnox]

16. lol figures

the moment I finally join facebook is when it starts to become unpopular.

[Modern_Matthew]

17. I will remain there until the next big thing... nt

[MilesColtrane]

18. You know what's cool?

A little privacy

That's a philosophy Zuckerberg and company doesn't believe in.

[slay]

19. I never joined under my real name - but even my fake name quit Facebook a few months ago

and i don't miss it one bit. way too much drama - often without any purpose. with sites like DU at least you are learning and running ideas past each other and not just - "Hey look how cute my dog looks today" or "Status update: Going to McDonalds". Ugh yeah - don't miss it one bit. i can stay in touch with my real friends just fine - and without the big brother-ish invasion of privacy!

[shift happens]

20. Facebook is a place for

pathetic losers (loosers ) hook up with other pathetic loosers (sic)!

[liskddksil]

21. I should quit it

but I still use occasionally to message friends.The site which in 2004 - was clean and user-friendly now looks like a cluttered, unorganized mess. You can't even add favorites onto your own profile anymore, unless the text is already in their system. Not to mention the privacy issues, and the fact that Zuckerberg is a major league (not to mention education deformer) a**.

[DesertFlower]

22. i joined facebook 3 years ago at the

urging of my sisters. i like it. i have a lot of political stuff going on there, i.e., move.on, arizona democratic party, bernie sanders. i have CFS/ME and have found new friends who suffer from the same illness. it's like an on-line support group.

i'm 70 years old.

[shift happens]

23. Update: Hi, everyone!

I just ate a bowl of New York cherry ice cream! It was fantastic! I think I have to take a shit, though.

Update: I took a shit.

[quinnox]

25. stop!

ROFL

[shift happens]

26. Update: The length of my shit was...

Okay, I'll stop!

[The Magistrate]

38. Pretty Short, Actually....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=278989&sub=trans

[clyrc]

24. I live thousands of miles away from my family

I am facebook friends with my parents and sister and cousins, and old friends from some of the 12 schools I went to growing up. I guess it is the uncoolest thing there is, liking keeping up with them.

[Tumbulu]

59. I live on a farm and I love being able to keep up with friends

and family far away.

I think it is great for that. But I have always been a odd.

Who really cares?

[JI7]

30. how about those of us who never joined ?

[Bucky]

82. You're like the people who never went to church before Jesus raptured off all the good Christians.

That is a flawless metaphor.

[cherokeeprogressive]

31. Cool by whose definition?

[GoCubsGo]

50. Not mine.

In my book, the most "uncool" thing in existence is worrying about what the "cool kids" think.

[Mojorabbit]

53. + 100 nt

[libodem]

32. Just signed up

Already have a stream of crap flowing through my phone.

What have I done?

[iris27]

33. Wait...LOL...does this mean I quit Facebook before quitting Facebook was cool? Hahahaha...

Left not quite 3 years ago...pics from family weren't worth having to put up with their asshole RW status updates.

[starroute]

34. It would be nice if there was a reasonable alternative

I tried Google+ and that looked pretty good for a while, but Google started being dickish about it, and now my page there is like a ghost town.

My son is trying Diaspora -- I asked him to let me know if that was worth using, but he hasn't gotten back to me on it, so I expect it's still pretty thin.

There are a few other attempted alternatives at the moment, but none of them seems to be getting traction.

When I joined Facebook, I was getting friend requests from what seemed like everybody I've known since Kindergarten -- and that was 60 years ago -- but I managed to ignore most of them. Now I just use it to keep track of a few people plus a lot of Occupy-related pages.

The thing is that the basis idea of having a platform where you can post updates on you life for friends and family and follow public figures or causes that you're interested in is a good one. It's just the implementation -- and particularly the attempt to monetize and data-mine it -- that presents problems.

[Tunkamerica]

35. how was google dickish about g+?

[starroute]

87. Their "real names" policy

http://gizmodo.com/5830471/googles-real-names-policy-is-evil

Google's horrible new policy on using real names in Google+ effectively means that the service is now a danger to real people. You have to ask yourself why a company that pledged to not be evil would do this.

Google has said that if you don't "use your full first and last name in a single language" you're in violation of it's terms of service. If it flags you, you'll have four days to change it or it'll boot your ass. You can't use initials (even that's what you go by). You can't use a pseudonym (even if that's what you go by). And you can't use numbers or symbols (even if they are part of your name).

Æ, e.e. cummings, Malcolm X, and T.S. Eliot would all be in violation of Google's policy. So, too (by my reading) would be Mark Twain, George Eliot and doubly so, R.U. Sirius. I'm pretty sure nobody whose name you actually know in the band U2 can use Google+ or, by extension, Gmail.

It's hard to understand why Google would embark on such a wrong-headed policy. The most likely answer is that this is a pure identity play. Forget social networking, the big goldmine of the future is online identity verification. This could be Google prioritizing getting ahead in that race over its users' preferences and safety.

[Tunkamerica]

104. oh yeah

[DeathToTheOil]

36. Most Overrated Site on the Web

I haven't gone there in about two months.

[AnOhioan]

37. Facebook is like any other community website..what you get out of it is what you put into it.

[Americana]

94. Right on AnOhioan

I love it as I sell artwork there, connect with friends from all over. I don't care if it's monitored. Come get me baby! I use it as a political platform as well....many a great discussion, plus it helps me support myself and my children. What's 'cool' is taking care of business for myself and my family, and not caring if someone else doesn't think it's cool.

Namaste

Rebecca

[dipsydoodle]

39. New Facebook app judges which of your friends to dump

Facebook has launched a new app that can accurately predict which of your friends you will fall out with, to an accuracy of a week and a half.

‘By comparing profile information, smiley face usage and posts about their horoscope, we can tell you which people you might as well cut dead now,’ said Mark Zuckerberg. ‘It can be very time-consuming ignoring people you worked with six years ago or met at a cousin’s wedding, but if one of your friends is caught ‘liking’ a crisp flavour, posts one too many pictures of their kitten or updates their status to say they bought Take That tickets, we can ‘unfriend’ them in a blink of an eye.’

Facebook is now looking to take the app further. ‘Once we have a comprehensive list of people you wouldn’t piss on if they were on fire, we can sell that data to advertisers. Nothing is more likely to make you buy a new laptop than a banner showing your friend Malcolm’s ugly children crying on a camping holiday.’

http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2011/12/13/new-facebook-app-judges-which-of-your-friends-to-dump/

[Ship of Fools]

40. I never bothered signing on.

[seabeyond]

41. tagging for 16 yr old son. i dont let kids do facebook

will make him feel better that he is on the cool side.

[SoCalDem]

51. I signed up to see pics that my son puts up there, BUT

it's weird to read "conversations" between him and his friends..like eavesdropping.. ( have no interest at all, and it seems creepy).

I pay $100 a year to maintain a photo storage site I have (on Smugmug), so I see Facebook as just a free way for people to store their photos, and do so in a way that (for me) is annoying as hell for others to see those photos

[barbtries]

42. facebook

is how i connect with my entire extended family. i don't want it to go away.

[Marrah_G]

43. I quit Facebook and am all the better for it.

[tranche]

60. Does that mean you somehow became worse when you joined?

[Marrah_G]

108. The drama in my life increased

Life is stressful enough without the constant connection to everyone else's stresses also. The drama of other peoples lives can be oddly addictive and not in a positive way. I find myself spending alot less time at the keyboard now and more time doing other things.

This is not to say I think everyone would be better off without it. Everyone is different. For me its a positive change.

[Scout]

44. well, i do what i want whether it's "cool" or not...

so i don't care what the cool kids are or aren't doing

[Romulox]

45. With "innovation" like Facebook, no wonder this country is losing so much ground.

What a waste of everyone's time!

[reggie the dog]

88. how is it a waste of time?

i live in europe, my old friends and family live in the usa, i get to easily see photos of their families and read about what they have going on, plus i post lots of political stories on my page and get into discussions with my friends.

[Romulox]

109. That sounds like anything but a waste. That's not how 99.999999% of people use it, though. nt

[The Straight Story]

46. I love FB - and one great reason to read it: George Takei's posts :)

I stay in close touch with my friends in Ridgecrest CA, my buddy out there owns a radio station and he has lots of updates on his page and I shoot him story ideas, I keep up with my friends without having an email box full of stuff, etc.

It's like anything else - it's what you make of it.

[FloridaJudy]

97. Takei is the bomb

Facebook also keeps me abreast of what local political organizations - such as MoveOn and Occupy - are up to. I have mobility problems that frequently make it difficult for me to get out and about, and Facebook keeps me in touch with friends and family.

It's just a tool, like any other. You can use it for what you need, and leave the rest alone. I used to play at lot of games there, but haven't done so in months. They not only wasted my time, but they got boring - I mean, how many damned imaginary farm animals or office buildings does one need?

I've never been one to give a hoot what the Cool Kids think. I'm a Geek, and most Geeks love Facebook. Takei is only one reason for it, but he's a good one.

[Luciferous]

48. I never joined, so I guess I'm really cool

[RadiationTherapy]

52. Facebook is the most revolutionary mode of communication since the radio and telephone.

It goes beyond communication and offers a rudimentary version of 'shared experiences'. It is going to be recognized as an important step in our growth as a species.

[sibelian]

73. I agree.

It's not a fad.

[proud2BlibKansan]

102. +1

[Freddie Stubbs]

55. Facebook isn't growing very much because most people are already on it

[Atman]

70. That was my thought...they've reached a huge percentage of the market.

At some point, you just run out of people who want your product. I enjoy keeping up with my old and new friends. I don't give out "personal" information like e-mail and phone numbers, nor do I keep everyone needlessly undated on what I have for breakfast and whether not my cat just puked. Facebook is what you make it...and if it is "cool" to quit it, well, that is just one more reason why I won't.

.

[redqueen]

56. You know what I think is cool? Hating that people make decisions based on whatever is 'cool'.

If you like it, fine. If you don't, fine.

If you decide whether or not you like it based on whatever is supposedly 'cool', you're an example of one of the major stumbling blocks toward progress.

[pokerfan]

57. Too many privacy concerns

and too many things that are, by default, unsecured.

http://europe-v-facebook.org/EN/Complaints/complaints.html

[Mosby]

58. funny - I deleted everything I have ever posted on FB yesterday

I'm not going to delete my account because its a good way to keep in touch with family members but I'm pretty much done with posting.

I am utterly sick of the updates that keep changing my privacy settings and I don't want to leave a footprint on the web that prospective employers can possibly access.

My "new" thing is tumblr.

[tranche]

62. Pstt. I'm re-joining Facebook. You know why? Because it's pretty well agreed that quitting is cool.

I've re-joined Facebook before re-joining Facebook was cool.

[Fire Walk With Me]

63. If all the cool kids quit, then those remaining will by default become cool.

[Maraya1969]

64. I met a great number of previoulsy un-known family

on FB. I don't give a rat's ass if it is cool or not. I love it and I will always be grateful for it.

[PVnRT]

65. Oh, look, and now all the DU Cool Kids will crow about how they never joined

Or how they quit a long time ago. Big deal, the hipsters are quitting Facebook? Will they take the douche-hats and duck lips with them?

[Yavin4]

66. Facebook's Primary Functionality Was Already In Existence

That's why I never got the hue and cry over how great it was. There were social networks like MySpace and Friendster already in existence.

People reacted to FB as if it had invented fire or something.

[WolverineDG]

67. I've never been a cool Kid

So I'll keep my FB account, which lets me stay in contact with friends & family all over the world, as well as keeping up to date with what's going on in my town. And games. Love the games too

[bikebloke]

68. A stealth user

I've reconnected with a few old friends from my kibbutz days 30 years ago. And I'm there under a nom de guerre. though they may have found me via a link I included with my photo/video from those times.

[msanthrope]

69. All the cool kids never got on Facebook in the first place. nt

[Initech]

71. I really seriously hate how every page on the Internet now

Has "like us on Facebook buttons".

[Plucketeer]

77. Yup!

Facebook, Twitter, Diggit, etc., etc., etc. WHO has time for all these AND a life???

[Initech]

80. I think Facebook overkill is what's causing people to leave.

But what I also hate are every freaking website on the planet asking you to take their surveys! I dont want to waste every minute of the day taking useless surveys!

[DaveJ]

72. The problem with FaceBook is people who are only semi-friends

And people from HS who I totally don't remember, but I know they were there, so I go ahead and accept their friend requests.

As a result, it is not a place I would want to organize a protest. I have to be super careful and politically correct with everything I say.

Even my republican father-in-law is there, and it takes all my willpower to avoid blasting his endless conservative comments. I certainly do not want to upset him, he lives 2 miles away, and obviously I'm married to his daughter, so creating a bad relationship would not be a good idea.

So if you want to discuss more edgy topics, FaceBook is often not the place.

[iscooterliberally]

74. I'm not quitting Facebook, but I don't really use it in the same way that most people do I guess.

I was reluctant to sign up for Facebook. I didn't until one of the bosses of the big company that employs my boss and our company said we all had to join. I just figured I better not post anything that I didn't want the whole world to know (duh). Anyway, I ran into old friends that I had lost touch with, just like everyone else, but then something really cool happened to me. I love animals. I have 3 big dogs and 4 cats. I saw others posting about trying to save this dog or that cat and realized I could actually help out. I hooked up with a local rescue group and met a bunch of like minded folks who I never knew before. I found out I could help out by doing rescue transports. Sometimes after work I go to the local shelter, and pick up a rescued dog, or several of them and drive them up the next county and meet another driver. I also sometimes attend adoption events. Anyway, in my humble opinion, the 'cool kids' are not quiting Facebook. I always felt bad about not being able to rescue and adopt another animal, but one can only do so much in their own home. Facebook as become very useful to the rescue community in my area, and from what I see it's working accross the nation too.

[marzipanni]

91. That IS cool

and warm!

------------------------------>

[iscooterliberally]

92. Your post IS cool!

How do you get those? The old smilies look up thing is gone, or moved. I haven't found it yet.

[marzipanni]

106. DU3 Smilies link here - some fun new ones

http://www.democraticunderground.com/emoticons/index.html

The Walk the Dogs one is one I lifted somewhere and put in my bucket-o-photos.

[bluedigger]

75. If you have trouble dealing with your friends and family on facebook...

quitting it isn't going to make THEM any cooler.

I like staying connected with my far-flung friends.

[onehandle]

76. Facebook and Google, the largest spam advertisers and personal info sellers in the world...

...should both be shunned.

Screw 'em.

[katty]

79. i am trying tumblr.com

so far, pretty good.

[Bucky]

84. So are they going to Google Plus?

[tinymontgomery]

85. I'm a geo bachelor

I'm a geo bachelor right now and my wife and me have a blast going back and forth each night on FB and driving our friends crazy trying to figure us out. Lots of fun.

[LanternWaste]

86. Well, I guess there's one demographic who will be using two soup cans and a string...

Well, I guess there's one more demographic who will be using two soup cans and a string (until someone tells them that's not cool anymore either...)

[Eliminator]

89. I quit facebook after a month

Didn't really see the point of it.

[Skittles]

90. all the cool folk never fell for Facebook

[Wait Wut]

95. This just in!

Being cool isn't cool anymore (once you reach the age of 25)!

[ZombieHorde]

98. DU is my facebook.

I have my friends' phone numbers, so I can contact them if I wish.

[JoeyT]

100. Is it even possible for facebook to shrink?

Given what a pain in the ass they make deleting accounts, and that most people won't actually delete an account so much as they'll just stop logging in, facebook is going to "grow" no matter how many people stop bothering with it.

[Sherman A1]

101. I like Facebook and will continue to use it.

It has allowed me to be in contact with some family & friends that I otherwise would not and it serves as an excellent news feed from local institutions such as museums, our zoo and some businesses in which I have an interest.

It works for me, for others perhaps not, but that is there choice.

[MrSlayer]

103. The release of Skyrim has all but eliminated my Facebooking.

Hell, it's practically eliminated everything else as well. I find I don't miss it much at all.

[Swede]

105. Facebook is a handy tool.

No more,no less.