Poll: Do you have a Facebook account?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3542976

by jgrahamc • 14 years ago

60 92 14 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Perhaps expand the options?

Like you, I had but then deleted my facebook account; however, a professor of my grad school class requires one, so I created a temporary account.

ldayley• 14 years ago

Yes, I deleted my Facebook account in early 2010. However, I have since created a placeholder account to buy ads and admin a business page for my company. I've logged in exactly once in the past 2 months.

perfunctory• 14 years ago

A professor requires a facebook account? Could you elaborate?

pathdependent2• 14 years ago

He prefers it to blackboard. It's a very idiosyncratic preference, IMO. I'm pretty sure I could refuse and he would have to oblige me; however, maintaining a facebook account with 1 friend isn't a big problem.

AndrewHampton• 14 years ago

I've considered deleting my facebook account, but ultimately decided to keep it because nearly all of my extended family is on facebook only. I did delete nearly all the personally information associated with my account and decline all requests from others saying I went to XYZ school or am related to them in some way.

bipartitegraph• 14 years ago

What is the rationale behind deleting LinkedIn?

samstave• 14 years ago

Second this question.

I find Linkedin to be of value. I have never had an account on the book and never will.

jorisw• 14 years ago

I have a LinkedIn account and all I ever do on it is accept incoming connection requests. Other than that, I never ever use it for anything. Except maybe once a year to see if guy X who left the company found a new job yet.

Many connection requests are recruiters over here, too. I ignore those.

jgrahamc• 14 years ago

I did not find it to be of value. I spent most of my time on LinkedIn dealing with recruiters and other undesirables who wanted to contact me.

joering2• 14 years ago

why and how do you deal with "other undesirables" ? I find linkedin connections number to be a key when talking to recruiter. they dont really care who I connect to, but rather a number of connections seems to impress them. for that reason, I would add anyone to my network. Also - one person that you may not know on LinkedIn may be linked to someone you would love to know!

kiloaper• 14 years ago

They have shown scant regard for their users privacy in the past.[1][2] I deleted my account as a result.

[1] http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/17/linkedins-soc...

[2] http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2390998,00.asp

Void_• 14 years ago

I do have a Facebook account, but I've hidden everybody from my news feed, I don't post anything to my own profile, I use it only to access information about people and for communicate in the groups.

libraryatnight2• 14 years ago

I deleted my Facebook some time ago, now. At first I was alarmed by how many times I started to go for it on my phone purely out of muscle memory when bored or waiting in line. Now, I hardly even think of it and feel better being without it.

tatsuke95• 14 years ago

Same experience here. I deleted it about a month ago, and haven't looked back.

The only annoyance I have is the variety of sites I was using FBConnect with (it IS convenient) that I have to re-register. But that goes to show you the problem of relying on tools like Facebook for site logins.

libraryatnight2• 14 years ago

I noticed that same thing with FBConnect, it's made me consider my comments and their value a bit more since I'll have to create an account to leave them ;)

anonymoushn• 14 years ago

Yes. It is not in my name. My previous one was also not in my name, but got banned for being named Jewish Adolf.

flyosity• 14 years ago

Yes, but I never use it and I locked the security down so tight I don't even know if I have permission to post on my own wall anymore.

patrickk• 14 years ago

Ditto. This should be an option on the poll. Every time I log on I see tons of useless, inane comments from people I barely know and I quickly leave again. I mainly have an account so people know I exist (ie. it's almost a social faux pas not to have one.)

Logging on is like flicking quickly past a TV channel that is aimed those who watch reality tv. No thanks.

nbm3• 14 years ago

I wasn't much of a Facebook user before joining the company, and using the site more frequently definitely made it obvious that a) I had been missing out on some useful news and b) I was wasting a lot of time on "friends" I didn't really care much about (not only reading time, but being angry that those people were behaving in a way that would lead me to leave in real life). Once the new subscription and friends list stuff was in internal testing, I spent 30ish minutes cleaning things up (including just unfriending people), and now my news feed sucks a lot less. Well, it did before I subscribed to tech journalists. Another cleanup awaits...

philipmorg• 14 years ago

Deleted my Facebook account Jan 1 of this year as an experiment to see whether focus and creativity increased. Mixed results--some positive--so far.

trustfundbaby• 14 years ago

Have facebook, love it.

Had Google+, deleted it when my name started showing up in search results. I just don't like the way they're trying to work it into every other thing you do with them ... without your clear permission.

bogdand• 14 years ago

No, why should I? More distractions?

jader201• 14 years ago

I still have mine for the purpose of marketing my site, but I have removed almost all of my friends, and have moved my "social" interactions to G+.

0ne2• 14 years ago

I have one but under a fake name.

Why do you guys choose to not have one, go by a different name, or delete your facebook?

Personally, it just feels creepy having a facebook and that's why I have one under a different name. Not that you couldn't figure it out anyway but it gives me a sense of security.

djtriptych• 14 years ago

I have had one since 2004, but do not use it for ANY social features. It's been reduced to a site for extended family to reach me for non-emergencies.

aneth• 14 years ago

Not to be uncool, but I enjoy Facebook. I find it to be a fun way to stay in touch with connections, discuss, share, chat, etc. Sure I want data portability, but I believe that will come in time from competitive and user forces, and my life is not a protest. My online social activity is inane anyway - I don't care that much who stores it.

If you are worried about your activities being tracked and sold, stop using your credit cards. Have you read the privacy policy on those lately?

All this anti-Facebook pride strikes me as bitterness. Everyone has a right to do what they want, but would be all the wiser to look at themselves to understand why.

Facebook gives me more than I give Facebook - a lot more. When that stops being true, I'll stop using it. I too am kicking myself for not building a social network in 1996 - I'm not going to convince myself Facebook is evil because I didn't.

rexf2• 14 years ago

I use FB for what it is - a way to keep in touch with people I don't see often.

From my point of view, most people are on FB, some are on Twitter, and almost nobody is on G+.

loudmax• 14 years ago

I feel the same way, but I'd emphasize that interoperability won't happen by accident. We users need push for it and encourage competition. It's not that Facebook should lose, but that Google+, LinkedIn, Skype/MSN, and miscellaneous startups like Diaspora should also win.

Teknomad• 14 years ago

Ditto. I got rid of my Facebook account for that reason, primarily -- I don't believe monopoly is ever a good thing and Facebook is headed that way fast (simply because of the network effect, not because they're gurus at building monopolies).

There's another reason I ditched Facebook, though. I found that my life was getting too entangled with other people. I had a lot of friends in the past who worked or still work for the US govt. and my current views on that government (that it is corrupt to the core and needs to be rebooted) were making them afraid for their jobs. Simply unfriending me is not enough, because Facebook has a memory...so I sent everyone my email and Twitter ID and went through the 2-week-long process of deleting my Facebook account.

What scares the hell out of me is that Facebook is concentrating so much personal knowledge in one place -- one-stop shopping for corrupt governments!

The proper approach is to federate the social networks together, so people can move from Facebook to Twitter to G+ to LinkedIn effortlessly but retain control of their data and hence put up a sizable barrier to corruption.

0ne2• 14 years ago

I like sharing stuff with my friends. I only add people I know but I go under a fake name (which seems like a false sense of security TBH).

I won't delete it because it's fun.

One thing I worry about online is someone misinterpreting what I share. For example, I share a lot of hacker related news.

I am really interested in reasons why not to have one or delete it entirely.

chandana• 14 years ago

I used to, but I deleted it.

udp• 14 years ago

For the people that do, there's still a HN group over there:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/114326995294656/

corin_2• 14 years ago

I voted "I used to, but I deleted it.", but actually I have a personal account with no details and no friends, which I only log into on the rare occasions I need to edit a company facebook page, and the login details to a friend's account, for when I want to check up on how Facebook works for the sake of a marketing campaign.

edit: I deleted my account three years ago because it annoyed me and I rarely found myself using it. If that wasn't the case, I'm not sure if by now I would have decided to delete it for other reasons (e.g. privacy) - I haven't really stopped to think about it.

grifaton• 14 years ago

Sample bias?

corin_2• 14 years ago

I don't follow - you're saying this poll is biased because of HN readers? I'd argue (though it isn't my poll) that it's purpose is not to find how many people in the world use Facebook, but to find out how many HN-type people use Facebook, meaning that hosting the poll on HN gets it answered by the exact target audience.

acslater00• 14 years ago

Sorry, the 32 of you (as of this moment, out of 152) who claim to never have had a facebook account. I call shenanigans. I don't believe for one second that 20% of a sample of hacker news readers never, ever had a facebook account.

RomP• 14 years ago

I'm one of them. I asked this same question in my team a few weeks ago: I got very similar sampling. The team is composed of 7 hackers (native code, embedded speech-related software). In other words, I tend to believe the results we're getting so far.

eCa• 14 years ago

Me too. Only way I would be a member is on a dedicated Virtualbox guest. *.facebook.com is not allowed to store cookies in my Firefox.

manuscreationis2• 14 years ago

As I posted below (and seemingly got downvoted for it), "Never had one, Never will"

The people I want to stay in touch with, I stay in touch with. Those I don't, I don't.

It really is that simple. You don't need facebook, or anything else, to stay in touch with the people who are important to you.

I call shenanigans on anyone who thinks facebook is a required part of life. Or Twitter. Or any other "social network" for that matter.

If you use it and enjoy it, that's great for you. Keep using it, keep enjoying it.

I'll stick to emails, phonecalls, IMs, and text messages. Hasn't failed me yet.

marshray• 14 years ago

Nope, never had one. No Google+ so far either.

I find Twitter both entertaining and useful and a little LinkedIn is helpful to keep up with old coworkers and such.

tomelders• 14 years ago

I'll delete my Facebook account when there's Distributed Social Network Protocol I can use instead.

Social networking has evolved to become a useful part of my life that I don't want to live without. But the evolution of it's usefulness in relation to me is diverging from the evolution of Facebook and Google+.

CrazedGeek• 14 years ago

Eh... I'm in college, and it's nearly impossible to get my friends/classmates to use email, so I sorta need to keep it.

rwagasore• 14 years ago

Yes, but I am planning to delete it for good after creating something as a replacement (Hybrid between facebook and blog) even thought posterous spaces is in good position now for me.

Wilya• 14 years ago

I've got an account, but a dns ban on *.facebook.com (and their other dns). Three or four times a week, I fire up a dedicated browser (configured with a (somewhat slow) proxy to circumvent my own ban) to check on what happens, and sometimes post a link or two.

I'm happy with this compromise, right now. I no longer have any addiction, but I don't feel too out of the loop. And I feel in control of the data I give to facebook.

hugh4life• 14 years ago

There should be another option for "Yes, but it's pseudonymous"

mvkel• 14 years ago

I know it’s cool to make fun of Facebook, but you can’t doubt that they focus a heckuva lot on the user. Unlike Google, the advertiser is not the customer per se. Evidence of this: constant design changes to features (read: Pages) without pandering to a business’ request. Facebook’s message: adapt, or die.

Certainly not a bad company to invest in, regardless of perceived value.

Tooluka• 14 years ago

I have it still but never login. Deleting is pointless because they delete nothing from their DB, and also some times its nice to have thing. Like login to stupid website which only accepts social networks login or identical "tons of info" registration. Or to "connect" facebook with Steam or some other platform for whatever reason (why they want it in the first place I wonder?).

simonsarris• 14 years ago

I have one and I love it.

I find an enormous amount of hostility on HN towards facebook, even going so far as a lot of people proudly mentioning that they will never touch it. I don't see why it gets such scorn, I think its a wonderful site.

Some notes on my usage, though:

All of my privacy options are on the lowest possible setting. I treat anything that occurs on the site as if it were public. I don't see why not, I'm not going to pretend that photos of myself or my wall postings are anywhere near interesting enough to hide. In fact I'm not sure why people who put things on facebook want privacy at all. I never worry that something I say might be picked up on by the wrong person because I'd never say anything that I wouldn't want the world to hear.

To a shy person, the usefulness of the site is astronomical.

Among others I am friends with my boss, my mother, my little cousins. Facebook lets shy people like me keep in touch with a massive amount of people where I can write them the modern equivalent of letters very quickly and easily, as well as let them broadcast their life's updates to me. I can keep in touch with all manner of people. I love writing letters, people love getting letters. Facebook is not far off.

Without facebook, I'd have no idea cousin X is having a baby, or that Y is having apartment trouble that I can help them with, or that Z got a new game we can play together, or person A is considering selling their car, and so on.

If I meet someone at an event and really hit it off (romantically or not), I can go on facebook the next day and look them up by name and add them. No exchanging phone numbers or emails or anything like that. I just search for them and find them. In college it was enormously useful for making friends and I still find it useful now that I've graduated.

I made a page for my hometown (90K population city in NH). I broadcast events going on around the city (fireworks, beer festival, city meetings). In this way I help my community learn about the goings-on of the town. It's a surprisingly popular page (more popular than the local newspaper's facebook page).

I could go on, but this is probably enough to give those who don't use it an idea of why I enjoy it so much.

rexf2• 14 years ago

Facebook is useful for letting you know when it is your friends' birthdays. Ironically, I don't list my birthday on Fb, because that's one piece of information that is relevant for identity fraud.

gm2• 14 years ago

In this day and age, if you think you can contain basic info such as your birth date unknown you are deluding yourself. It's as findable as you full name.

Just go to the right background check company. They will have your birth date and much more.

AzAngel• 14 years ago

I know of a guy who changes his birthday every month on FB just to see who wishes him a happy birthday. Every single month the same people fall for it.

drhowarddrfine• 14 years ago

You can do that on Google+ too but with the privacy of not letting certain "circles" know things you don't want them to know or it's irrelevant.

hitonagashi• 14 years ago

Except for the fact that none of the people who would give me the updates I'm interested in are on Google+...

ansgri• 14 years ago

Two Things:

* In the ordinary world, public <> searchable.

* People forget things. The Internet doesn't.

chollida1• 14 years ago

> Without facebook, I'd have no idea cousin X is having a baby

Maybe I'm taking this a little too literally but I find this statement disturbing.

How can someone not know that one of the biggest life events happened, one that takes 9 months at that, to a family member without being on facebook?

gills• 14 years ago

I also find it disturbing. This sort of thing is exactly why I disabled my account; the family and friends who use Facebook heavily have forgotten how to communicate directly, they rely entirely on shouting into the hurricane and expecting everyone to pay attention. Good luck with that.

mekoka• 14 years ago

I have an account that I now visit at most once a month. I used to enjoy facebook when it was really about keeping in touch. When I joined in 2007, I really just wanted something to share pictures and stories with family and friends. Then facebook decided it wanted to become the "operating system of the web". I think that was the beginning of the end for me. Maybe many people liked this and actually (over)hyped it, but to me it made fb look more like all the previous social networks that I had (successfully) managed to avoid until then.

To me, facebook had the responsibility to handle the information you provide with care, but I believe that in their quest to become profitable, they've been quite cavalier with this notion, that is until now that viable alternatives are creeping up. I'm of the opinion that people love to know the truth, but they just don't like the lengthy process it sometimes requires to get at it, so they make judgment calls on the slightest bit of information, whether it's only a version of the truth or a partial truth. Politics is a prime example of a domain where this is usually exploited. I had an early taste of the destructive potential of facebook when I witnessed the scandal that ensued, when an acquaintance was tagged in a "compromising" photo. It was an admittedly amusing and entertaining event from my standpoint, but it prompted me to remove some of my personal information and some public pictures and set my email to warn me if someone tagged me in a picture or posted on my wall.

Then came facebook-connect, a private alternative to the public and more open OpenID. I know the latter was flawed in many ways. Call me paranoid, but I don't believe facebook was more motivated in unifying the authentication process than it was to know where its users went in the web. fb-connect imo, was an excellent trojan horse on their way to track users' habits across the web, but it wasn't perfect. Most websites still offered an alternative to people who didn't have a facebook account, to sign in with a more traditional sign-on. Also, having implemented fb-connect in the past, I distinctively remember that back then, it required the site's visitor to explicitly authorize this affiliation to take effect. Something that I've always refused to do in my effort to keep what belongs in facebook in facebook.

Then one day, after reading an article on techcrunch, I was about to post a comment and I saw the Comments box with my actual fb profile picture and name next to it. A website that I seldom visited, could now know that I was there, just because it was affiliated with facebook and I was still signed on to facebook during my visit. This new widget didn't even bother asking me if I was ok with that. That was when I started actively logging off of my fb (until then, I was just closing the window). Later on, some users started reporting that facebook actually kept tracking cookies across its affiliated sites even if they were logged off facebook. At that point, I started using a different browser just for it.

I don't understand people who don't understand why facebook get such a scorn. I like my family and my friends and I like keeping in touch with them. Just because I happen to do it with facebook doesn't mean I have to become a fan by association.

nbm3• 14 years ago

TechCrunch has no idea who you are when you visit it logged into Facebook. The comments box is served by Facebook, and doesn't provide any information to the hosting site.

(I work at Facebook.)

andrewheins• 14 years ago

I recently had to reactivate my long-dead account so I could develop apps on the Facebook platform. Otherwise, I prefer Twitter.

bleakgadfly• 14 years ago

I had one many years ago but deleted it when they hit the fan regarding privacy. However, after the last update by Mark Zuckerberg about the improvements in Facebook privacy and the decision by FTC to regulate privacy made me change my mind.

babarock• 14 years ago

I have a Facebook account, that I never use. It's not that I'm against it in theory, I'm just never compelled to use it. I created the account in 2006, then closed it from late 2007 to 2009. I re-opened it because I believe Facbook presents us with great oportunities and there's so much one can do now thanks to it.

Here we are, almost 3 years later, I have this mostly inactive account, with around 100 contact, most of them being people from my old high school or college.

I think I never get myself to use it because, despite the wealth of info it presents, it doesn't give me a practical way to use the data (REST anyone?).

I recently heard of the Graph API, so now I'm curious and excited again :)

vpdn• 14 years ago

Even if you don't use facebook, you should probably have an account to see the mechanics of it. It's mind boggling how a product is able to attract 800 million people, with 50% of the users logging in on any given day. There's something to learn here.

hackinthebochs• 14 years ago

Exactly. As a developer or potential founder, you're shooting yourself in the foot by not using it.

tbatterii• 14 years ago

I got tired of constantly closing holes in the sharing. Seemed with every site update, stuff that used to be hidden appropriately was now public. They make it harder than it really should be.

introspectif• 14 years ago

I'm on the hatin' side actually. Locked down privacy to the max, only to find it all re-opened again when FB changed their privacy options. That happened 3 times.

Those shenanigans finally stopped, but then I'd be browsing the web and find comments like 'Your friend x likes this page.' It's creepy that to see that on a site I've never visited before when I have my FB locked down completely. I understand the technology, but the instinctive reaction is still 'How the hell do you know who my friends are, random website?'

I haven't noticed that lately (desensitized to it?), but I just noticed on a friend's public-facing FB page (I logged out to verify that it was totally public) that it said she was in Country Y, city Z on date D, with ME. There was my full name and my location in the world posted to the world, despite locking down EVERY SINGLE privacy setting available and allowing NO third party applications, etc. Even my friends cannot see or post to my 'wall.' This is all very disturbing, so yes, I'm still hatin', despite recognizing the cool benefits of a single centralized place to stay in touch.

jaredsohn• 14 years ago

>it said she was in Country Y, city Z on date D, with ME

This has nothing to do with whether or not you have a Facebook account, but rather is based on the behavior of your friends.

jrockway2• 14 years ago

I'll be honest. The main reason I deleted my Facebook accounts is because I didn't want to socialize with the people that I added as friends there. It was Twitter for people that didn't get the Internet, and that resulted in a lot of garbage to wade through. Also, apps and their spam were intolerable. Finally, it's written in PHP and the way they draw people in Farmville weirds me out.

At some point I thought I was being pretty cool for opting out, but now I realize it just isn't a product for me. There is not a lot intrinsically wrong with it; a lot of people seem to like it very much.

there• 14 years ago

Finally, it's written in PHP and the way they draw people in Farmville weirds me out.

are you seriously saying that the language they use has anything to do with you not using it?

jrockway2• 14 years ago

Yup. When did I ever say that I was not a weird person!?

mironathetin2• 14 years ago

I read their terms and conditions. After that, I deleted my account.

nbm3• 14 years ago

I realise this may have been a while ago, but do you remember a particular provision or theme amongst provisions that caused you to do that? When was it?

(I work at Facebook, but I'm mostly just asking for my own interest.)

mironathetin2• 14 years ago

It WAS a while ago. I think the main trigger was about the ownership of the submitted data. Can't check anymore, because t&c changes constantly.

But don't tell me, now everything is much better. That is what all software people say about the last release, isn't it? Just get it right from the beginning.

It was a good decision, though. Everybody should check t&c before signing something. That sheds a clear light on who is really evil and who is not.

manuscreationis2• 14 years ago

Never had one, never will

SkyMarshal• 14 years ago

4th option: Yes but considering deleting it.

michaelcampbell• 14 years ago

I think it's now so hipster to have deleted whatever social networking accounts one has that re-upping is becoming the new hipperthanthou.

avakharia• 14 years ago

No. It's not how I want to stay connected with my friends and/or family.

Adaptive• 14 years ago

There should be another option: mothballed account.

My facebook account exists solely as a placeholder.

kstenerud• 14 years ago

I use a development version of webkit for logging into social network sites. My accounts exist purely for work purposes, and on the rare occasions that I actually need to log into one of them, I fire up webkit.

I'd be fine with them if they didn't broadcast my every move and everyone I know, but even then I wouldn't use them; I just don't see any point to them. If I want to know how someone's doing I'll contact them on Skype or by phone or just go visit.

jdp23• 14 years ago

Inspired by this poll, I'm taking a similar poll on G+ as well -- https://plus.google.com/u/0/115324919838980591640/posts/ZL5d...

veyron• 14 years ago

There needs to be an option for accounts that exist merely because other services require Facebook for login (or because job requires it). That would separate "I have a persnal account" from "I have a shell account"

agentultra• 14 years ago

My group of friends used to call each other on Thursday or Friday nights to organize what was going on. That eventually stopped happening because of facebook. It took quite a bit of peer pressure to get an account and see what the fuss was about.

I used it diligently for about a year to give it a fair trial. I actually liked it until I saw the illusion. I promptly deleted it when I'd had enough.

I found the mediated social experience wasn't adding any value to my life. A lot of friends I had spent a lot of time and energy in building friendships with became casual observers in the stream of events. Instead of being personally invited out with the gang I found that I was just filtering my feed for events and filtering for the ones I would be interested in. I would just get invited to everything because facebook makes it so easy to spam your network. I didn't have to talk to anyone. It was ironically anonymous and passive.

It just didn't work for me. I'm an introvert. I invest a lot of emotional energy in my relationships. I have few friends and I like to shower them with my attention and care. Facebook opened up a lot of opportunities to meet new people and attend parties I would have otherwise never been invited to, but I don't put a lot of value in such things. I'd rather focus on the people that mean a lot to me than to be buzzing about from one event to another and just watching life pass by on a web page.

I'm also of the mind that there are really very few things in life that matter. If some person I barely know in my family just had a kid I wouldn't really care. It never mattered before facebook and it still doesn't matter now. It's just mental noise. I like to take time to reflect and absorb things... too much information just keeps me busy with unimportant things.

AznHisoka3• 14 years ago

I feel same way. FB gives you opportunities to make more connections, but not deeper ones. It's as if people turned friending ppl into collecting Pokemon. You're just a number - you gotta collect them all!

lucb1e• 14 years ago

I got an account, but don't use it. No people friended, no posts or photos on it, no Likes. Guess I should vote no, then.

loungin• 14 years ago

I use to have one but deleted it as well. I realized it wasn't adding any value to my life. Friend status updates? I'd rather get them in person, otherwise it probably isn't actually all that important. I like my privacy and dislike the idea of using a platform that is entirely about serving me ads. No thanks, already see enough.

Have I missed out on anything by not being on Facebook? Nope.

cooljyo• 14 years ago

I have two one for testing and one real account

ma2xd• 14 years ago

AznHisoka3• 14 years ago

I dislike FB for the same reason I dislike Apple. They created yet another platform for me to worry about (creating FB Connect login and share functionalities).

Apple gave us the iPhone, which makes consumers happy, but now I gotta create an iPhone and iPad app in addition to a web app! I want the days back when all we had to do was create a simple website!

ymn_ayk• 14 years ago

No, not more

Poll: Do you have a Facebook account?

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