Why I'm Quitting Instagram

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/31/126113/

by iProject • 14 years ago

58 35 14 years ago

bits.blogs.nytimes.com

protomyth2• 14 years ago

So, let's say you do "delete" your account. Wouldn't your information still be there to be sold? Does any TOS actually say deleting your account deletes all data from that account?

nhangen• 14 years ago

Most people try to counter this by deleting all photos and comments, but still, if what you're suggesting is the reality, then it's only a half-measure.

protomyth2• 14 years ago

Does doing that actually work? Sites have backups which I presume would get sold along with the company. I am just not sure if any service (other than maybe the Well) actually deletes stuff when you say to delete it. The TOS for every site can be modified at will, so I wonder if any service guarantees removal.

RyanZAG• 14 years ago

At the very least, deleting your account means they won't be getting any extra information. Also, it's much harder for people to link you in bad photos and events, and you won't show up in searches, etc.

Just because they have some of your information is no reason to let them get anymore. You gave Facebook your personal information? Fine, you fucked up, live and learn - but have the sense to delete your account now and stop giving them more. They're only getting better at collecting and using private data.

kmfrk• 14 years ago

I deleted my one photo a while back, and the photo count still says "1". Sometimes, it's better to threaten to stay and delete your data than to leave and disable your account.

ryguytilidie3• 14 years ago

This is irrelevant. His two options are: "delete account, some data may still be there", or "don't delete account, all data is still there and more is added".

jamesbritt• 14 years ago

Is there the option to continue adding data, but make sure the new data are bogus? Poison the well, so to speak. Change personal data, etc. Alter metadata in photos.

Do this for a bit, then close the account.

lmm• 14 years ago

This is one of the many reasons I'm glad I live in the EU. We're not perfect, but we take the privacy of personal data much more seriously than the rest of the world seems to.

outside12342• 14 years ago

let me get this straight - he starts two services that collect social information for sale to 3rd parties (advertisers until they fail, then whoever will buy) - hits a jackpot - and THEN suddenly is altruistic.

is that right?

sillysaurus2• 14 years ago

Surely you have something more interesting to talk about than this ad hom attack.

What motivates this sort of attack, anyway? Jealousy? A sense of justice?

outside12342• 14 years ago

I'm not attacking him, I'm making an observation. I find it hard to believe that he suddenly realized this month that social networks are all about collecting and selling personal information.

bradleyland4• 14 years ago

This is not an ad hominem attack. The author's background is closely related to the subject matter. The fact that he once owned and operated companies that were (possibly?) engaged in much of the same practices brings about relevant questions about the consistency of his views. Was he always of the same mind, but operating in contradiction with his ethical viewpoints in order to make money, or was there some turning point? What motivated that change of viewpoint?

These are relevant questions.

ryanblock3• 14 years ago

Hey, Ryan (author of the piece) here. You are clearly making a lot of assumptions about me and my work!

Nothing I've built or worked on (gdgt, Engadget, etc.) has ever collected or used user data or social information in any untoward way. You'd be right to assume there have been opportunities to do so, but that's simply not the kind of business I'm interested in being in.

blindhippo• 14 years ago

Interesting - I recently just disabled/deleted most of my public online presence as well for much the same reason. Privacy was a concern, but really it came down to the net benefit of having these accounts in my life.

Facebook added nothing to my life - indeed it actually harmed some relationships since I figured people didn't need to communicate directly with me if they could follow my public feed.

Twitter became a vector for me to bitch about the world to no one in particular. Try as I might, I usually ended up sending out a stream of negativity which the world certainly does not need more of and it does nothing good for me personally.

I'm considering ditching LinkedIn, but that seems to be taboo - HR drones seem to expect a LinkedIn profile and get suspicious if there isn't one (this isn't a good trend IMO).

Since terminating many of the "social" media services in my life, I've felt better about how I present myself to the world. I no longer fret about that last tweet I sent out, or feel a need to check on my "feeds". That said, it does leave me looking at my smart phone and wondering what the hell to do with it.

ryguytilidie3• 14 years ago

"HR drones seem to expect a LinkedIn profile and get suspicious if there isn't one"

a) this isn't true. b) The whole HR drones thing is pretty lame. "Hey I assume I'm way smarter than everyone in this field because I said so".

dyeje• 14 years ago

I don't think he was implying that everyone with an HR is a drone. I believe he was referring to the HR industry's less inspired members.

jonathanjaeger2• 14 years ago

Am I the only one who is gaining more value from Facebook than ever before? Yeah in college it was fun to look at profiles from people you met in class or at parties, and if you weren't part of Facebook you didn't know of the big events or parties unless someone told you.. but that is nothing compared to now. Now I can easily follow updates from my favorite artists, friends who are visiting NYC and want to meet up, and see branded/tech-related stuff I subscribe to all in a compact and useful News Feed algorithm.

Putting privacy concerns aside, which don't affect me personally, Facebook is a utility that is providing more value to me now than it did in college.

38252• 14 years ago

>Putting privacy concerns aside, which don't affect me personally

I beg to differ.

jonathanjaeger2• 14 years ago

I knew someone was going to point this out. Yes, technically they do affect me but most likely they will have little to no affect on my day-to-day life. There are many negative consequences to the privacy problems that do exist, so I'm more concerned about privacy at large and relevant legislation than my own personal privacy on a day-to-day basis.

tteam• 14 years ago

Very practical reason to quit using multiple online services. Once personal data leaves your computer there is no guarantee what form it will take.

Check our personal cloud service Tonido (www.tonido.com). You will like it and no question of data ownership ever.

bckmn• 14 years ago

I wrote similar thoughts a couple weeks ago: http://bckmn.com/pay-for-your-life-online/

I think the biggest catharsis that needs to happen this coming year is for people to realize how free services actually work.

heynow• 14 years ago

Can you recommend a book that discusses how free services actually work?

chippy• 14 years ago

Early adopter stops using service as service becomes mainstream.

Why I'm Quitting Instagram

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