There are several reasons I don't use Facebook. I started using it in its early days, but never did much for a few reasons. One, I had dial-up Internet that barely functioned, and two, it wasn't very user-friendly at all. It felt like almost everything I clicked on led to some app it wanted you to use that didn't even really accomplish anything. So I never really deleted it, I just kind of stopped using it. Eventually, in the first semester of last year, I was pressured into using it because everyone else did. This lasted from October 2010 to March 2011--I shut down my second attempt at Facebook nearly a year ago.
I did this for several reasons. For one, the structure of Facebook itself discourages privacy and encourages people to be far too occupied with what everyone else is doing. It seems one can't perform a bodily function without it being plastered all over Facebook and Twitter (which I don't have either, and never have). Now, you might say that this is the fault of the user, and if you don't do that, then it isn't a problem. But the very structure of Facebook itself encourages this kind of thing. Nearly everything you click on is proclaimed to every one of your "friends". You are fed information by them that you may not want to know or that might even upset you. This happened to me, and it was a source of negativity in my life that I wanted to rid myself of.
People are surprised when I tell them I don't have a Facebook. They tell me that if it upsets me, I should just block the people who are being negative. But that's not even the point. What I don't like is the site itself, and its structure. I just don't like it, and probably the only way I'll ever get Facebook again is if I need it for a job or organization.
I agree with most of what you're saying. I suppose that the reason that things like that don't bother me as much is because I'm not that attached to Facebook, nor do I understand the mentalities of people who are.
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