Facebook Suicide

My recent decision to rejoin real world interactions prompted me to leave Facebook forever. However, I could not do it wihout one final hurra! Below, for your viewing pleasure, is the letter I wrote to all of my "freinds" on Facebook...




I started this journey into the depths of “social networking” out of some professional necessity mixed with a dash of experimentation. This journey has now thankfully come to an end. I am bidding you all a happy farewell and hope that you may take something away from this email other than the normal eccentricity that you are all accustomed to coming from me.

The main reason I am doing this is that I can no longer maintain a relationship with human beings I regard as my “friends” thorough updating my News Feed and searching through peoples pictures to bear witness to their social excursions. I no longer feel the need to find out how many of my friends changed their profile picture, write on your Super Wall; invite you to play Texas Hold’em; poke or be poked; find out what sexual position or vegetable I am; or if we are alike in terms of misadventures in sex. I am under no illusion that telling you how many villages ive driven thorough on my Facebook map; giving you a nonsensical nickname; sending you a drink/kiss/hug/kick/slap/lick/fortune cookie will make us better friends. Nor do I believe that joining groups and causes will further any initiatives on this planet or any other for that matter.

I realize that I may fall out of touch with many of you because I have chosen to leave this virtual network; but I am confident that those of you who truly are concerned or even curious to know what I am doing can send an email or an IM. I am privileged enough to know who my friends are… they make an effort to stay in touch that goes beyond a comment on a picture or “Facebooking me”.

Hopefully I have awakened some dormant logic that resides in some crevasse of your minds and encouraged you to consider what I have just said. The utter absurdity of pretending you are friends with most of the people in your friend list or constructing ideas and relationships with or about people through poking and walls feels like an insult to the people I truly consider to be my “friends”. Are you really comfortable with the fact that today or 10 years down the line, while you are pursuing your career, public office, filing for a credit card, or trying to get a job; a company, with which you have no personal connections, will have records of all your messages, photos, inclinations, friends, partners, sexual orientation, credit cards, as well as all the groups/causes you support(ed) for as long as you wish to continue your virtual expedition? Are you happy with the exuberant amounts of spam in your inbox and the access that advertisers and media conglomerates have to your personal and behavioral habits? If so by all means social network away.

For the record: My status is available. My profile is open to interpretation. I have over 1000 friends and 4000 pictures added by me and others. My interests vary. My sex is male (the last time I checked). My hometown is earth, and I have seen too many movies and read too many books to pick my favorites. My email addresses are: xxxxxxx@gmail.com or xxxxxxx@hotmail.com. Perhaps I have not been able to encourage you all to spark a brain plug. If that is the case, please have a look at the links below.

This is Facebook suicide.

http://www.scmagazineus.com/Facebook-privacy-flap-should-spark-concern-for-business/article/108327/

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,338578,00.html

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MxxqcH_Mkc (this one is MySpace but same difference)

http://www.scmagazineus.com/Sophos-40-percent-of-Facebook-users-easily-give-up-personal-information/article/35315/

http://www.facebook.com/business/?socialads