Anne Jackson killed her Facebook Profile on Sunday.
I applaud her action as it has matched her motivation; not every person is convicted enough to actually do something about it.
But her move to shut it down is an interesting one since it’s not all of “them” (she’ll still have her blog FlowerDust.net and Twitter) but rather a select service. This is neither a “good” nor “bad” thing; it just made me think of the relative value differences between services.
This morning, though, I heard of another well known blogger who is going all-out and shutting down both his blog and Twitter.
I have to admit, I’ve often thought about shutting down not just my Facebook profile but some of the many other profiles out there that, for the most part, are just gathering dust.
What would motivate you to shut your profiles down? Have you ever done so? What are the advantages or disadvantages of keeping them open/closed?
What say you?
[Image from Lazlo]
Christina says
I consider pulling the trigger sometimes. But right now, it's still a ministry for me. I meet people in person who I never met before, but somehow they say they've seen me on Facebook? Others tell me how they stalk me often and love my posts. So that's awesome. I even get that sometimes with MySpace blog posts. I'll keep it going.
Seth says
I killed my MySpace page about a year ago…I was OBSESSED. However, I haven't been on MySpace since, even to look at someone else's profile. It feels quite liberating.
I have often thought about shutting down my FaceBook page, but I haven't been able to bring myself to do it. I think it's because I have a fascination with what's going on in the lives of people I haven't seen in 5 years…
Vy Tran says
I've thought about it as well, but Facebook has been the reason I've been able to reconnect with a few old, valuable friends.
Then again, now that I've reconnected with them, I don't suppose I need it anymore.
Matt says
I killed myspace a few years ago. It became too complicated… facebook is getting there! With each change over the last few years I've thought "now why did they do that!"
Twitter keeps me sane by keeping things under 140 chars. I use a 3rd party app to keep the people I'm following and the people I actually care to look at on separate groups.
Jay says
I deleted the MySpace account I had. Quite frankly, I never much liked MySpace and started using Facebook exclusively before people even really started flocking to it. I was going to keep it open but the constant bogus friend requests made me just get rid of it altogether. I didn't see any upside to keeping it active, so I deleted my account.
I don't use Facebook too much. However, so many people I know still do, so I have been using it is a vehicle to promote my photography business. I do a lot of family portraits. People post the images to their profile. People comment and ask who did the photography. BAM! I have a referral. So that's a definite advantage for me to keep it open.
JakeSchwein says
If something is taking your focus away from what the main thing is…kill it. Life is too short to have something like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace…..or whatever derail you! I think it is great that people have made some really tough decisions lately.
Also nothing is wrong with keeping your social media focus narrow. Especially if you are not trying to promote a business or something, but are using them for community. It allows you to actually respond and interact with all.
chrishill says
It's sort of like Michael Levine's "Broken Window, Broken Business" – Definition: A seemingly innocuous and insignificant detail that, when left unattended, subliminally communicates indifference.
I would rather not have a facebook profile at all if I'm not keeping everyone up who cares up to date. Web profiles and sites that go unattended really bother me. It's just digital waste that could possibly reflect laziness or irresponsibility. Perception is reality on and offline.
andydarnell says
I have been considering the facebook death as well. To me it is becoming more like myspace. Noise. I may just go for deactivation instead of death, that…and clean house.
human3rror says
ah.. same thing…?
Dave Faulkner says
I keep FB because it has enabled me to reconnect with old friends. I don't generally waste my time with the apps much any more, though: they seem mostly childish. I've only recently got into Twitter but found it useful for news and information – I never realised it would do that. My blog gives an outlet for my writing and I like the comments that challenge me to think more deeply.
Having said that, two points the other way:
1. There is a genuine problem of time stewardship, especially in an always-on broadband world where I work from home and messages keep popping up.
2. Not only Anne and YSMarko, I first noticed this trend when Raffi killed his Parables of a Prodigal World blog. Is there a wider concern here being felt in the Christian community? Is it even 'a move of God'?
human3rror says
who knows, but, i know that we need to choose where we spend our time wisely. its so limited…!
Ancoti says
I toy with the concept of a shutdown, at least for a protracted period, but have only taken the steps to try to pare down usage. Which, by the way, seems to occur naturally to me. I have scaled way back on Facebook, am in the process of scaling back Twitter usage, but I am trying to keep up both my blog and reading others.Facebook and Twitter followed the same pattern, heavy usage for several months, then the throttle back. Maybe it is just how I am wired.
I will try to keep up the blog profile as to me this affords the greatest opportunity for deepest relationship in this space. But even there, I find myself scaling back the number of blogs subscribed to.
I find it fascinating that others are experiencing and acting on the same feelings I am having. Must say something about behavior being a wave in our current society. A lot of us seem to be oscillating on the down curve right now.
human3rror says
yeah. time to turn it down…
russhutto says
I killed myspace because myspace gets its face pwned by facebook all day.
People should dig deeper into the tools available to limit the clutter and noise on facebook.
You can hide apps, people, etc. You can filter friends list and even control the level of interaction you have with others.
Most people don't realize this and get overwhelmed quickly.
Part of me hopes that people pulling the plug on their social portals isn't some new trend that all the "cool" christians do.
The other part of me applauds those who choose to unplug if what motivates them to unplug is authentic.
I cringe though sometimes when I read on a blog or an update status that so and so is killing their whatever site, because it seems a little bit self-serving to me. If you're gonna kill it, just kill it.
Don't make a reality tv show out of it.
human3rror says
but we live in a reality tv world…!
😉 i gotcha on that though.
tjgillies says
[seesmic xVQD3y4ygZ|1xkCcVoUen_th1.jpg http://www.seesmic.com/video/xVQD3y4ygZ seesmic]
stephenbateman says
Wow. Same story. I killed myspace back in the day, and have considered killing Facebook. But instead, I deleted ~200 friends, and it's been really helpful. Helped break through the crap I didn't care about and let me focus on the people I do care about.
Side note. After deleting 200 friends, I started to get more traffic from facebook to my blog site. I'm not sure how they'd be connected…but who knows.
human3rror says
that's interesting… i wonder if there is truly a correlation.
anne jackson says
@tjgillies – for me, i used FB all the time. but for the wrong reason. that is why it needed to die.
and I take full responsibility for letting Facebook turn into a dirty narcissistic place for me. It was like Kudzu. Just grew out of control.
Right now, with my blog and Twitter (the only 2 social media sites I have – killed myspace and a plethora of other things i never used) I am trying to be more intentional on giving more and talking about nothing…less…on the two platforms that make sense for me during this season.
human3rror says
Anne,
Thanks for chiming in! I think you're perspective is right on. I wish more people were honest with themselves about it.
word up sis.
Aaron says
I killed MySpace and Facebook a couple years back but the wife blackmailed me into signing back up for Facebook.
/sucker
Josh Wagner says
I won't be deleting Facebook anytime soon, but that's because I've reconnected with old friends there. I'll keep it up to make sure that I don't loose that again. But I don't have a bunch of friends on Facebook. I think I have like 50 maybe? Facebook is for people who I've met (or at least I could have met, ya know, like college class or something). Twitter is for new networking. I've met a bunch of people and begun to connect with them on Twitter. It's great!
I think the one thing people miss is that one service cannot be all the others. Explaination: Twitter is not Facebook. Facebook is not Twitter. They both have strengths (Twitter = brevity) and weaknesses (Twitter has lots of noise). But you can leverage both for certain things. Go with the strengths!
human3rror says
wow. you got pwned.
Mikes says
I have deleted a blog! My first blog. I'd loved it and it hurt when I did but oh well it was for good. that's the key, we delete things for good of something.
human3rror says
yes, sometimes we must…!
Adam_S says
I had a much stronger comment that I tried to post from my phone earlier today but it didn't go through. That is probably good. But I do think that we need to tread carefully in this discussion. I understand Anne and several other people's reasons for deleting facebook or whatever you are deleting. For them it is not the technology that is bad or the social media-ness that is bad, it is the fact that they see that activity becoming an idol. It is something that is between them and God. I am all for people getting rid of whatever is between them and God. (As long as it is really between them and God and not just and excuse.)
There are other voices out there that are deleting because it is a cool thing to do, or because their utilitarian decisions to not continue with an activity that no longer has any value. I don't use myspace, even though I have an account, because I don't use myspace. I never had a bunch of friends on there, it never had any value for me. If I delete my account there it means nothing to me. So we should not assign spiritual value to that act. For Anne there is spiritual value, for me deleting a myspace account, there is absolutely no spiritual value.
We need to be careful in what we claim spiritual value for. Spiritual value is obedience to God. Activities outside of direct obedience, are just activities, not necessarily good or bad, but not spiritual. So delete away that linked in account that you haven't used in two years. Just remember that it isn't a special service to God.
Graham Brenna says
Killed MySpace years ago… I login to FB maybe once a day. I'll comment on my friend's statuses… usually via Seesmic Desktop now though. My FB is pretty automated… by that I mean that my blog posts automatically get pulled through. Whatever videos I upload or favorite on YouTube get 'huzzah'd' on my FB. My Flickr photos also get pimped… I really only keep it so I can keep up with the highschoolers in my church that I mentor and chaperone trips for. It's been a valuable communication tool for me when it comes to connecting with them. I'm also seeing more and more 'adults' in my church join up… that has been cool to comment back and forth with them on things I post.
So while I use it to push my own stuff… (after all it is MY facebook page)… I do get valuable feedback from people within my church community and some great discussion has arose because of it.
Jim says
I'll keep them for now.