I've been a Facebook user since my senior year of highschool. I got fed up with the debacle that was MySpace and (at the time) Facebook, a newly created social media network founded by Mark Zuckerberg seemed really clean, and was filled with features that actually worked. Over the years, as Facebook began to gain exponential amounts of social media market share, I kept using it. I remember when they first started to allow users to post status updates that didn't require one to have the word "is" appended before it. Then the company started allowing you to tag friends in photos. Facebook chat came out shortly after. Then apps.
All of these "innovations" were largely borrowed by other services, however they all seemingly worked pretty well, and it was fun to interact with everybody I knew, simply because the majority of everybody I knew was also a Facebook user. Overtime however, I discovered other services on the internet that offered (for me) a much more enriching and intuitive experience.
- Google Talk: Let's be honest for a second, anybody who has ever used Facebook chat knows how buggy it can be. Google Talk also has complete chat history (a feature I really love)
- Twitter: A lot of people initially, and I was one of them, takes one look at Twitter and thinks out loud, "What the hell is this?" However, if you take a little time and actually set it up the way you like it, it's an amazing experience. I for one have created lists for my actual friends, news for the Madison area where I live, and for topics that I like to follow (breaking news, sports, technology, economics, and Epic Mealtime). It's actually really intuitive and addictive once you tweak it to fit your personal preferences.
- Picasa: A desktop application which implements intuitive editing features and allows you to tag your friends/family in photos and videos. There is also Picasa Web Albums which allows you to share photos with your friends.
- zakshesky.com: I spent BOTH time AND money to build this stupid website. It only makes sense to use it.
I truly have nothing really AGAINST Facebook, but over the years a number of reasons have come up that have irritated me beyond comprehension. One being simply that I'm an admitted Google fanboy and it bothers me that I'm using sub-par features from the competition. In recent months, Google has had their own FCC run-ins, and have taken a few actions that have even angered me. In spite of all this, I still prefer them over the PR fiasco that is Facebook and their "privacy" policies. I also recently received my invite to Google+, a social media project that I'm really excited about.
However, I do realize that, for whatever reason, you people have taken quite the liking to the idiotic statuses that I post, and the random photos that I upload. I still don't understand why, but because of this, I'm not deleting my Facebook account. I literally just linked my Twitter feed to my Facebook, and I will still reply to messages and wall posts. I also will continue to share links (only to selfishly plug my own website though.) Bear in mind however that I tweet approximately five times a day; if this bothers you, I strongly recommend either hiding me from your newsfeed or deleting me from your friends list ASAP. I probably will continue to upload pictures to Facebook, but I will be uploading them to Picasa as well, largely because of the fact that they offer high resolution photo and video uploads (resolutions that Facebook doesn't even come close to at this time.)
If you still wish to follow my internet adventures, I suggest you do the following:
- Follow me on Twitter: @zaksheskyman
- Add me on Google Talk: zaksheskymanATgmail.com (AT=@)
- Email me at jzaksheskyATzakshesky.com (AT = @)
It's been real.
Oh, I almost forgot. The MAIN reason I'm keeping my Facebook account is because I want to awkwardly creep on the photos from my female friends after Halloween and spring break.
At least Mark Zuckerberg isn't as big a douchebag as Tom Anderson.
After 3.5 hours of reflection after I posted this article, I find myself currently downloading all my data from Facebook and officially deleting my account.
Here's why:
- I have 300 friends on Facebook. I don't have 300 friends in real life. I don't need to get invites to parties from people I don't know. I don't need to waste time looking at the comments of people who I only see once or twice a year. The 40 or so people I actually care about already talk to me via phone, IM, email, or Twitter.
- I don't need to receive emails from a service I'll never use again.
- I simply don't like Facebook anymore.
I'm done.
My "War on Facebook" has been going on since last summer, and is still going strong.
I highly recommend reading the Lifehacker article linked below. It essentially sums up my thoughts on Facebook (and all social media for that matter) and also provides insight into why I love Gmail so much, and why it's ultimately my preferred means of online communication.
"Lots of people are on Facebook, but EVERYONE has an email address."
I posted an interesting article today regarding individuals who don't have Facebook to my Google+ circles. It garnered a pretty good discussion.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/08/06/beware-tech-abandoners-people-without-facebook-accounts-are-suspicious/
Before I deactivated my Facebook account last year, I made sure that the friends that I actually cared about knew how to contact me via email and had my phone number.
Ultimately I share things with my friends via email. It's a more private means of communication which enables you to communicate freely as you would face-to-face. While I still use Twitter and Google+ mostly as a means to digest content and discuss ideas, I legitimately feel that I communicate with my friends better by simply texting them, calling them or emailing them.
It's far more personal.
Saturday, November 19, 2011 at 1:49PM 
