Deleting Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram

I've been an ATM for the Tech Overlords long enough

Why Delete Facebook?

I’m deleting my FB account this week (January 14, 2025). I’ll share my reasons and then provide steps and alternatives I’ll try. Will it be like getting some wisdom teeth extracted or losing a limb???

Here are three reasons I’m doing this now:

1. Meta isn’t a trustworthy company

2. Send a message

3. Start a new gold rush of job creation

I’m embarrassed I didn’t do this earlier. Meta lies to users and has done so for years. Zuckerberg is removing fact-checking from FB, and this is a classic example of how he lies, in my opinion. It’s how Silicon Valley, and Politicians do it—they say they are doing something for YOU, to make things better. Zuckerberg is rationalizing this decision as a “back to our roots and free speech” support. Actually, it saves money, and reduces friction with an incoming president who is allergic to truth.

Finding truth can be a messy process, but it’s worth the effort. I don’t want to use platforms that value and promote lying over truth to boost engagement.

After the Cambridge Analytica debacle (see the documentary), we all should’ve taken our gold and left. The FTC fined Meta $5B, the most in its history, for its long history of bad behavior. It sounds like a lot but it is nothing compared to its annual revenue of $134.9B for 2024.

Enjoy this very illuminating history of Facebook from the Alliance to Counter Crime Online.

It’s time to send a message…(rather late, actually). We can be capitalists, and entrepreneurs and still have proper data and privacy laws to protect individuals and particularly children. The EU is way ahead of us in protecting its citizens.

Won’t Meta lay off many of its 67,000 employees? Sure, if all users leave Meta and its SM platforms, some people will be out of work. (Meta has a very big AI game so I’m not sure how many people they think they need anymore…is he taking a page from Twitter?).

The value prop and market have been proven for global shared community spaces. It’s time for next-gen solutions that provide all the value, more privacy, and control features we deserve, and none of the lying and exploitation we don’t want.

This isn’t the Matrix. I’m not your ATM. If you want to monetize me and my data, make me an offer. But TELL ME and let me decide. Or, let me pay a fee and make privacy truly configurable. Make it transparent and auditable. And stop lying.

Why Didn’t I Leave Earlier?

Like a billion other people, I’ve made FB worth millions, emotionally. My kids' lives are documented there. It’s much easier to use FB than to set up and maintain my own blog that’s not connected to anyone. I know :).

Loyalty Bias Is Expensive

Human Loyalty can be used against us. I used Dropbox for years until I understood for half the price I could find something that works just fine FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY. See Hi to iDrive.

Deleting Your FB Account Overview

Leaving Facebook isn’t like deleting other apps. I’ve been using it for 16 years, and it’s become part of my life. Deleting it will be a process that may take a whole week.

Here are the major steps I am following:

1. Change logins that use FB (like Spotify and Pinterest).

2. Download my data.

3. Save or print my data.

4. Capture friends list and notify friends.

5. Deactivate my account (optional).

6. Delete my account.

7. Delete FB, Messenger, and Instagram apps.

8. Don’t log into FB for at least 30 days.

9. Find another way to save and share.

Details for each step are below.

Change logins that use FB (like Spotify and Pinterest)

If you use your Facebook account to access Spotify you’ll need to log into Spotify and change how you log in. I hear this is easy.

Beware: If you own their Meta Quest VR headset or shopped via their market, deleting your FB account could delete your account/data that you may rely on to use that headset. Glad I returned this impulse buy before Christmas.

Download my data (FB and Instagram)

First, what “data” can you get? LOTS. Most data you expect, like your posts, photos, and videos. But some I didn’t expect, like advertisers. I was a tad surprised to see a list of 5,783 companies that had me on their list of targeted users.

You can also see events you supported, purchases you made, polls you joined, and many more.

You can also transfer your data to a service like Google Photos, Dropbox, and a few others. I’m not doing that.

If you choose to download your data, FB will package it into an archive that contains an HTML starter page and sub-folders with posts, photos, videos, and other data about you. This starter page is very useful to see all the data provided. My package was over 1.3GB wow.

1. Log in to Facebook.

2. Click your profile pic.

3. Click Settings & privacy > Settings.

4. Click Account Center and then click Your information and permissions

5. Click Download your information

6. Follow the prompts. You have a number of choices of type of info and date range.

7. Initiate download.

8. Check the email associated with FB. You should get a notification informing you the download has started. You’ll get another when it is finished. In that email is the link you use to download the archive. My archive was over 1.3GB. It can take hours for the archive to be generated.

9. Download and unpack the archive.

10. Inspect the folders to confirm there is a start_here.html. This file provides a list and links of all the content delivered. Click a few links to confirm the data is there.

Save or print my data (memories!)

In your browser, open the starter page to view your posts or photos. After you open an individual page, you can save it as a PDF.

1. Open the webpage: Navigate to the webpage you want to save as a PDF in your browser.

2. Access the print menu: Click "File" then "Print" or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + P.

3. Select "Save as PDF": In the print dialogue box, choose "Save as PDF" as your printer option.

4. Save the file: Click "Save" and choose a location to store your PDF file.

This step can take time as you get lost on many trips down memory lane. I probably have all these photos somewhere, but it’s fun to see them again and in some context.

Capture friends list and notify friends

If you want to take a snapshot of your friends list, view and print it or save as a PDF. I realized I wanted to reach out to folks to share personal contact info. Also, my final post will share my public contact info like my blog link and other socials like Mastodon, and LinkedIn.

1. To see and print your friends list on Facebook, navigate to https://www.facebook.com/friends/list

2. Navigate to File > Print and print or save as a PDF.

Deactivate my account (optional)

If you’re unsure you want to go cold turkey, you can deactivate your account. Here’s their doc about what deactivation means. This is their documentation:

1. You can delete your account by going directly to the Accounts ownership and control settings in Accounts Center. Or you can follow these instructions:

2. Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.

3. Select Settings & privacy, then click Settings.

4. Click Accounts Center at the top left of your screen.

5. Click Personal details, under Account Settings.

6. Click Account ownership and control.

7. Click Deactivation or deletion.

8. Choose the account or profile you want to delete.

9. Select Delete account.

10. Click Continue then follow the instructions to confirm.

Link: Facebook’s official documentation about deactivating and deleting your account.

Delete my account

You have 30 days to change your mind after you create a deletion request. This is their documentation:

1. You can delete your account by going directly to the Accounts ownership and control settings in Accounts Center. Or you can follow these instructions:

2. Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.

3. Select Settings & privacy, then click Settings.

4. Click Accounts Center at the top left of your screen.

5. Click Personal details, under Account Settings.

6. Click Account ownership and control.

7. Click Deactivation or deletion.

8. Choose the account or profile you want to delete.

9. Select Delete account.

10. Click Continue then follow the instructions to confirm.

But Will They Really Delete My Data?

Your FB data (profile, posts, and content) will be deleted after 30 days.

• FB Help Center says: “Your profile, photos, posts, videos, and everything else you've added will be permanently deleted. You won't be able to retrieve anything you've added.”

But all the backups of FB content will be around for who knows how long.

“Copies of your information may remain after the 90 days in backup storage that we use to recover in the event of a disaster, software error, or other data loss event. We may also keep your information for things like legal issues, terms violations, or harm prevention efforts. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.”

A hundred years from now, Alien Archaeologists will find and analyze our data, discover pictures of my homemade chicken marsala, and say, “That looks amazing!”

Don’t log into FB for at least 30 days

If you log into FB before 30 days after initiating the deletion, your account is reactivated. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature. FB assumes you will change your mind (or forget and login and cancel the deletion request???)

Delete FB, Messenger, and Instagram apps

To prevent accidentally logging in, delete all relevant apps like FB, Messenger, and Instagram.

Find another way to save and share (Recommendations?)

I don’t know how I’ll continue to share with family and friends in a similar way, but this could be a chance to revisit my approach and shift from quantity to quality.

Here are my initial plans to maintain connections:

1. Drop in unexpectedly at your house. I’ll budget for more in-person visits.

2. I’ll call you without calendaring first. I may be sitting down, and a fan may be on. Ignore the background noise.

3. I’ll text and add you to groups from our high school, college, student exchange, and startup days. You’ll be the last to know.

4. I’ll try Signal (maybe) for secure group texting. Goodbye, WhatsApp.

5. I’ll try BlueSky to satisfy that Twitter itch.

6. I’ll try Mastodon for no apparent reason.

7. I’ll post here occasionally as I work on that novel.

8. I’ll consider getting my HAM license to talk with my brother. (Remember when radio waves brought us together?)

This is a Beta release of a new approach. It smells like 1995.

This exercise has made me realize a few things: 1. I am surprised that FB is a monopoly. Zuck won. I thought we all won, for years, but now I see that I was just distracted and didn’t realize how many tentacle-like siphons had attached to me and my family to extract value continually from my existence. 2. I have a high tolerance for being treated poorly by disreputable companies. So embarrassing. Not sure why I am surprised.

I’m sure life will be better. Less noise will create space for more peace and joy.