Reasons Not To Dump Facebook
Recently I came very close to shutting down by Facebook account. Just as I was about to do so, something stopped me hitting that button.
Apart from a list of people who Facebook reckoned "Would miss me". I was reminded that I have various Facebook apps for which I'm the administrator for. Closing down my Facebook account didn't seem like such a good idea now. Maybe there are a few other valid reasons for keeping it too?
Finding out about events
I am always getting event invitations. Although I have to go through the rigmarole of removing 99% of these events there is still that 1% that I may have not found about by some other means. Of event with that 1% I still have trouble finding people to come with me, maybe they're all too busy tending their crops in Farmville?
Avoiding people
If you want to avoid someone, then Facebook will often give you some sort of indication where someone will be. Until they block you, of course.
Other useful information
Most things you read on Facebook you'll find out about in other ways, be it by SMS, on the news or just via idle gossip. However, Facebook is full of people who love to show off their supposedly fantastic life and this is where you find out things you'd rather not know about. Sometimes in the background of a photo, sometimes just because they forgot not to boast about that event you weren't invited to.
Activity monitor
Typical scenario, it's Sunday morning you've had a great night out (or at least that's what you'll tell everyone on Facebook). How do you know when to text, call, or turn up unannounced on someone's doorstep? This is where Facebook comes in useful. As soon as your friend posts the inevitable "Great night... bad hangover I wanna die" on Facebook then you have the all-clear to contact them, even if they've only had four hours' sleep.
Contra-death indicator
Taking the "activity monitor" feature to another level, Facebook can not only show that people are awake, but also if they're still alive. I knew a girl who would suddenly disappear halfway through a night out. Texting her wasn't always an option (it was usually she who texted me after we'd had a row). She could have been raped, murdered or worse for all I knew. Her cheery Facebook message "Fucking walked home, took me over an hour" would reassure me that at least she wasn't murdered.
3rd-Person Narrative
I find myself compelled to write about myself in the third person. I get fed up with writing about me. Facebook means I can write about myself in a disconnected way, as if it was some sort of out-of-body experience. So, for the moment "Badly Drawn won't be closing down his Facebook account, not right now anyway".
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