It is time to leave the Facebook universe!

The Facebook Universe includes all apps, services, and products owned or operated by Facebook:

Why I Left the Facebook Universe

I left Facebook on 1 January 2012. I never used Instagram and stopped using WhatsApp on 30 April 2017. I have not missed them for a second. People often ask why I abandoned these platforms. Here are my reasons:

  1. Facebook broke its promise. It said it would not link Facebook and WhatsApp or use WhatsApp data to boost its ad platform.
  2. I spent too much time on WhatsApp, which became unhealthy.
  3. I hated group conversations, where participation and quick responses felt mandatory.
  4. I oppose Facebook as a company and its values.
  5. My data was used to sell more ads.
  6. Cambridge Analytica exploited Facebook data to sway voters, and it was not the only company doing so.

Why You Should Leave Too

Recent media coverage has spotlighted Facebook’s issues. WhatsApp and Instagram founders left due to disagreements with management. A hack exposed 50 million users’ login details. Facebook now uses phone numbers for ad targeting. Below are ten articles to open your eyes about the true cost of using Facebook and spark thoughts about your privacy:

  1. Facebook Is Giving Advertisers Access to Your Shadow Contact Information
    “I think that many users don’t fully understand how ad targeting works today: that advertisers can literally specify exactly which users should see their ads by uploading the users’ email addresses, phone numbers, names+dates of birth, etc,” said Mislove. “In describing this work to colleagues, many computer scientists were surprised by this, and we’re even more surprised to learn that not only Facebook, but also Google, Pinterest, and Twitter all offer related services. Thus, we think there is a significant need to educate users about how exactly targeted advertising on such platforms works today.”
    → Gizmodo

  2. Exclusive: WhatsApp Cofounder Brian Acton Gives The Inside Story On #DeleteFacebook And Why He Left $850 Million Behind
    “More than four years ago, Acton and his cofounder, Jan Koum, sold WhatsApp, which had relatively insignificant revenue, to Facebook for $22 billion, one of the most stunning acquisitions of the century. Ten months ago he left Facebook, saying he wanted to focus on a nonprofit. Then in March, as details of the Cambridge Analytica scandal oozed out, he sent a Tweet that quickly went viral and shocked his former employers, who had made him a billionaire many times over: ‘It is time. #deletefacebook.’ No explanation followed. He hasn’t sent another Tweet since.”
    → Forbes

  3. Facebook’s New Message to WhatsApp: Make Money
    “WhatsApp on Wednesday detailed plans to sell advertisements and charge big companies that use its service to interact with customers, launching its first major revenue streams as growth at Facebook’s main app is starting to decelerate.”
    → Wall Street Journal

  4. Hating Facebook
    “I hate that, if I somehow don’t want to consign my personal data, beliefs, preferences, relationships, work history, daily plans, and private messages to a massive advertising corporation, I have to risk missing out on seminal life events. Not being on Facebook is sort of like not having a cellphone. Sure, me and a small number of weirdos can opt out, but we are increasingly disadvantaged by it. The disadvantage comes from the larger society relying more and more on such technologies. If even a small subset of your friends make heavy use of social media, you ARE missing out, and sometimes you can miss out on important life or death stuff.”
    → Righteous Ruminations

  5. Achtung! Decentralize, decentralize, decentralize!
    “I can hardly believe it, but the media is finally putting Facebook’s feet to the fire! No longer is it just the weird paranoid kids shouting at everyone to stop giving all of their information to these companies. We need to take this bull by the horns and drive it in a productive direction, and for that reason, it’s time to talk about decentralization, federation, and open source.”
    → Drew DeVault

  6. Facebook apologizes for privacy breach with full-page newspaper ads
    “Facebook isn’t just relying on TV appearances to apologize for its poor handling of Cambridge Analytica’s data sharing. The social network took out full-page apology ads in several major US and UK Sunday newspapers, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times. In each case, the ad included a missive from Mark Zuckerberg, who said he was ‘sorry’ Facebook didn’t ‘do more’ when it learned that Cambridge Analytica had harvested data on more than 50 million people without their permission.”
    → Engadget

  7. #deletefacebook
    “Facebook is using us. It is actively giving away our information. It is creating an echo chamber in the name of connection. It surfaces the divisive and destroys the real reason we began using social media in the first place – human connection. — It is a cancer.”
    → TechCrunch

  8. Edward Snowden: Facebook is a surveillance company rebranded as ‘social media’
    “Businesses that make money by collecting and selling detailed records of private lives were once plainly described as ‘surveillance companies.’ Their rebranding as ‘social media’ is the most successful deception since the Department of War became the Department of Defense.”
    → Washington Examiner

  9. What Instagram users need to know about Facebook’s security breach
    “Due to the nature of the hack, Facebook cannot rule out the fact that attackers may have also accessed any Instagram account linked to an affected Facebook account through Facebook Login. Still, it’s worth remembering that while Facebook can’t rule it out, the company has no evidence (yet) of this kind of activity.”
    → TechCrunch

  10. The Facebook hack affecting 50 million people also let the attackers access users’ Tinder, Spotify, and Instagram accounts
    “So what happened? In short, the attackers found a way to trick Facebook into issuing them ‘access tokens’ — basically, digital keys — that let them access other users’ accounts as if they were that user. After spotting some unusual activity earlier this month, Facebook realized what was going on on Tuesday evening and subsequently revoked these access tokens before disclosing the hack publicly on Friday — though not before 50 million people were affected.”
    → Business Insider

Alternatives to the Facebook Universe

Important Messages and Information

Use email for critical communication. It is universal, unlike social media platforms that not everyone uses.

WhatsApp and FB Messenger Alternatives

Instagram Alternatives

Group Communication

Pages

Every company with a Facebook page should have a website with the same information. A website costs about 50 euros a year to maintain. Limiting your business to a closed platform excludes non-Facebook users.

How to Delete Your Facebook Account

  1. Download Your Data

    • Go to the top right of Facebook.
    • Click Settings.
    • Click Your Facebook Information.
    • Go to Download Your Information and click View.
    • Select or deselect data categories.
    • Choose format, media quality, and date range.
    • Click Create File. It may take days to prepare.

  2. Post a message explaining why you are deleting your account.

  3. Wait 48 hours for others to see your message.

  4. Delete Your Account

    • Go to Facebook’s Delete Account page.
    • Select Delete My Account.

  5. Do not log in for 30 days, or your account will reactivate. Full removal may take 90 days.

How to Delete Your Instagram Account

  1. Download Your Data

    • Go to instagram.com.
    • Click the gear icon next to Edit Profile and select Privacy and Security.
    • Scroll to Data Download.
    • Click Request Download.
    • Enter your email, then click Next.
    • Enter your password and click Request Download.

  2. Post a message explaining why you are deleting your account.

  3. Wait 48 hours for others to see your message.

  4. Delete Your Account

    • Go to Instagram’s Delete Account page.
    • Log in.
    • Select “Privacy concerns” at “Why are you deleting your account?”
    • Re-enter password.
    • Click Permanently delete my account.

How to Delete Your WhatsApp Account

  1. Download Your Data

    • Go to Settings > Account.
    • Select Request info on my account.
    • Wait 1-3 days for the report.
    • Download the .ZIP file.

  2. Post a message explaining why you are deleting your account.

  3. Wait 48 hours for others to see your message.

  4. Delete Your Account

    • Open WhatsApp.
    • Tap Menu Button > Settings > Account > Delete my account.
    • Enter your phone number in full international format and tap Delete my account.

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