Weblog:Facebook mind - Revision history

Seth: /* plunge */

2011-10-08T16:10:28Z

‎plunge

Seth: /* yum */

2011-10-08T16:05:55Z

‎yum

Seth at 06:12, 18 August 2011

2011-08-18T06:12:49Z

Seth: /* plunge */

2011-08-18T06:10:08Z

‎plunge

Seth: /* plunge */

2011-08-18T06:07:32Z

‎plunge

Seth at 05:51, 18 August 2011

2011-08-18T05:51:16Z

Seth: /* Stage two ironies */

2011-07-14T15:45:46Z

‎Stage two ironies

Seth: /* yum */

2011-07-14T15:44:03Z

‎yum

Seth: /* Things I loved about the article */

2011-07-14T15:43:26Z

‎Things I loved about the article

Seth: /* Things I loved about the article */

2011-07-14T15:43:03Z

‎Things I loved about the article

@@ Line 46: / Line 46: @@
 OK, fine, its a great idea.  Is that really enough?  Maybe this whole thing is a crisis.  After my fervor dies, and I don't move out to the woods, don't get chickens, and miss all the posted parties, I'm bound to return to Facebook.  It is incredibly powerful.
-But I've made some changes, and I've tied a great knot.   Only paradox could make it natural to leave and to stay away.  Facebook connects me to my friends.  It makes me more accountable to them.  So I gave them the power to keep me off Facebook, and all using Facebook.  I'll try to return, but I gave my new unknown password to the friend most likely to mock me and twist the knife.  Its one of the many things friends are for.
+But I've made some changes, and I've tied a great knot.   Only paradox could make it natural to leave and to stay away.  Facebook connects me to my friends.  It makes me more accountable to them.  So, using Facebook, I gave them the power to keep me off Facebook.  I'll try to return, but I gave my new unknown password to the friend most likely to mock me and twist the knife.  Its one of the many things friends are for.
 [[Image:FacebookRegrets.png|700px|thumb]]

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 ===yum===
-I won't just down a whole pastry all at once.  I like to eat the chocolate off the top by itself, and then the crust by itself, and then the inside when that's all that's left.  It sounds like reductionism, but its something more.  Closing your Facebook is something with parts, and you can enjoy all of them.  Don't go straight to "Deactivate account".  Turn off every option in every box, one by one.  Notice the ones that take multiple clicks?  Read the clarifications, apologies, disclaimers, experience, enjoy.  It might take about an hour.  I found myself googling the inner workings of who sees what when.  You might go back and double check that this one thing is off, thinking that you just turned it back on somewhere else.  You can view your profile from the perspective of every friend.
+I won't just down a whole pastry all at once.  I like to eat the chocolate off the top by itself, and then the crust by itself, and then the inside when that's all that's left.  It sounds like reductionism, but its something more.  Closing your Facebook is something with parts, and you can enjoy all of them.  Don't go straight to "Deactivate account".  Turn off every option in every box, one by one.  Notice the ones that take multiple clicks?  Those are the ones that affect their bottomline.  Read the clarifications, apologies, disclaimers, experience, enjoy.  It might take about an hour.  I found myself googling the inner workings of who sees what when.  You might go back and double check that this one thing is off, thinking that you just turned it back on somewhere else.  You can view your profile from the perspective of every friend.
 I chose to just make everything private instead of deleting my account.  Oh, misspeak.   There is no deleting your account.  You can deactivate it.  You'll be back.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Talked to my friend M6 today, he pointed me to this inspiring article, Zadie Smith's review of The Social Network in the New York Review of Books:
+Talked to my friend M6 today, he pointed me to this inspiring article, Zadie Smith's (movie) review of The Social Network in the New York Review of Books:
 http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/nov/25/generation-why/?pagination=false
-Could anything inspire you to take down your Facebook?  I forget that I still get inspired about things, and that my mind can change completely in an instant.  I feel like I'll never die.
+Could anything inspire you to take down your Facebook profile?  I forget that I still get inspired about things, and that my mind can change completely in an instant.  I feel like I'll never die.
 NOW, while your friends are migrating to Google+, now is the perfect time to pretend that you've migrated too. Disappear for a little bit. Why? pagination=false.
-The review's message?  (Actually, wtf?  Since when does a movie review have a message?)  There is one point about people simplifying themselves to fit in Facebook's fields for them.  I actually wasn't too fazed by that one.  These guru types in human-computer interaction decree that shit all the time.  The point that got me was the romance of "its none of your business."  I've heard it before, but I've only recently started opening up to it.  (AHH!!! Its ironic for me to write that for you to read. Yes, I know. No, it won't stop.  Its part of the beauty of this whole thing.)
+The review's message?  (Actually, wtf?  Since when does a movie review have a message?)  There is one point about people simplifying themselves to fit in Facebook's fields for them.  I actually wasn't too fazed by that one.  These guru types in human-computer interaction decree that shit all the time.  The point that got me was the romance of "its none of your business."  I've heard it before, but I've only recently started opening up to it.  (AHH!!! Its ironic for me to write that for you to read on my blog. Yes, I know. No, it won't stop.  Its part of the beauty of this whole thing.)
 ===yum===

@@ Line 44: / Line 44: @@
 Deactivating your Facebook is hard.  The metaphor to suicide is hard to miss, and it isn't lost on Facebook.  I've got a screenshot of the deactivation page.  This shit is amazing.  They will do anything legal to to keep me in.  The further I go through the stages of withdrawing (I did not say withdrawal), the more I learn how much its a great idea.
-OK, fine, its a great idea.  Is that really enough?  Maybe this whole thing is a crisis.  After my fervor dies, and I don't move out to the woods, don't get chickens, and miss all the posted parties, I'm bound to return to Facebook.  But I've made some changes, and I've tied a great knot.   It is only through my love of paradox and self-reference that I was able to make it natural to leave and to stay away.  Facebook connects me to my friends.  It makes me more accountable to them.  So I gave them the power to keep me off Facebook, and all using Facebook.  I'll try to return, but I gave my new unknown password to the friend most likely to mock me and twist the knife.  Its one of the many things friends are for; even if there's no box for it.
+OK, fine, its a great idea.  Is that really enough?  Maybe this whole thing is a crisis.  After my fervor dies, and I don't move out to the woods, don't get chickens, and miss all the posted parties, I'm bound to return to Facebook.  It is incredibly powerful.
 [[Image:FacebookRegrets.png|700px|thumb]]

@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 ===plunge===
-Deactivating your Facebook is hard.  The metaphor to suicide is hard to miss, and it isn't lost on Facebook.  I've got a screenshot of the deactivation page.  This shit is amazing.  They will do anything legal to to keep me in.  The further I go through the stages of withdrawing (I did not say withdrawal), the more I learn how much its a great idea.  OK, great idea, is that enough?  Maybe this whole thing is a crisis.  After I don't move out to the woods, and don't get chickens, and keep checking my email, and miss all the posted parties, I'm bound to return.  Maybe I'll try, but my friends love to see me suffer, and they won't change the email back without twisting the knife.  Do I want it that bad?  And if I do, can I read Japanese?
+Deactivating your Facebook is hard.  The metaphor to suicide is hard to miss, and it isn't lost on Facebook.  I've got a screenshot of the deactivation page.  This shit is amazing.  They will do anything legal to to keep me in.  The further I go through the stages of withdrawing (I did not say withdrawal), the more I learn how much its a great idea.
 [[Image:FacebookRegrets.png|700px|thumb]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Talked to my friend M6 today, he pointed me to this awesome article:
+Talked to my friend M6 today, he pointed me to this inspiring article, Zadie Smith's review of The Social Network in the New York Review of Books:
 http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/nov/25/generation-why/?pagination=false
 Could anything inspire you to take down your Facebook?  I forget that I still get inspired about things, and that my mind can change completely in an instant.  I feel like I'll never die.
-NOW, while your friends are migrating to Google+, now is the perfect time to pretend that you've migrated too. Disappear for a little bit. Why? Pagination=false.
+NOW, while your friends are migrating to Google+, now is the perfect time to pretend that you've migrated too. Disappear for a little bit. Why? pagination=false.
-===Things I loved about the article===
+The review's message?  (Actually, wtf?  Since when does a movie review have a message?)  There is one point about people simplifying themselves to fit in Facebook's fields for them.  I actually wasn't too fazed by that one.  These guru types in human-computer interaction decree that shit all the time.  The point that got me was the romance of "its none of your business."  I've heard it before, but I've only recently started opening up to it.  (AHH!!! Its ironic for me to write that for you to read. Yes, I know. No, it won't stop.  Its part of the beauty of this whole thing.)
-*"tiny, exquisite movie star trailed by fan-boys through the snow." ooh!  meter! yes!  I know that reference.  That was my  first moviestar crush.
-*This line too: "I don’t think exclusivity was ever the point; nor even money. E Pluribus Unum—that’s the point."  There is an echo when you read the Latin, even when you don't understand it, because you already read the word money just before it.  You only see that phrase when you see money.
-*The article's message.  (Actually, wtf?  Since when does a movie review have a message?)  There is a point about people simplifying themselves to fit in Facebook's fields for them. But these guru types in human-computer interaction decree that shit all the time.  The point that got me was the romance of "its none of your business."  I've heard it before, but I've only recently started opening up to it.  (AH!!! Its ironic for me to write that for you to read. Yes, I know. No, it won't stop.  Its part of the beauty of this whole thing.)
 ===yum===
-I like to eat the chocolate off the top by itself, and then the crust by itself, and then the inside when that's all that's left.  It sounds like reductionism, but its something more.  Closing your Facebook is something with parts, and you can enjoy all of them.  Don't go straight to "Deactivate account".  Turn off every option in every box, one by one.  Notice the ones that take multiple clicks?  Read the clarifications, apologies, disclaimers, experience, enjoy.  It might take about an hour.  I found myself googling the inner workings of who sees what when.  You might go back and double check that this one thing is off, thinking that you just turned it back on somewhere else.  You can view your profile from the perspective of every friend.
+I won't just down a whole pastry all at once.  I like to eat the chocolate off the top by itself, and then the crust by itself, and then the inside when that's all that's left.  It sounds like reductionism, but its something more.  Closing your Facebook is something with parts, and you can enjoy all of them.  Don't go straight to "Deactivate account".  Turn off every option in every box, one by one.  Notice the ones that take multiple clicks?  Read the clarifications, apologies, disclaimers, experience, enjoy.  It might take about an hour.  I found myself googling the inner workings of who sees what when.  You might go back and double check that this one thing is off, thinking that you just turned it back on somewhere else.  You can view your profile from the perspective of every friend.
 I chose to just make everything private instead of deleting my account.  Oh, misspeak.   There is no deleting your account.  You can deactivate it.  You'll be back.
@@ Line 22: / Line 19: @@
 *Also, when I was writing the status update on Facebook to say that I'm doing it.
 *The update was longer than 420 characters, and I spent a few minutes trying to shorten it.
-*And when I thought of starting a Group, People Who Quit After Reading That Article.  Because that is such a Facebook thought
+*And when I thought of starting a Facebook group: People Who Quit Facebook After Reading That Smith Article.
-*And when I thought of starting a Group, People Who Quit After Reading That Article.  Oh yeah, and because they're not even on Facebook anymore.
+*When it took me (even) a second to realize that those people wouldn't be on Facebook anymore
-*And when I concluded, without checking, that the Group definitely exists, either despite the irony or because of it.  You don't have to tell me, I just know.
 ===Stage two ironies===
 *I've reduced what I share and who I share it with, I've changed my emergency contact to someone else's email address, and changed my password to something I don't know, and changed my language to some inscrutable.  All that is somehow easier than simply deleting my account.
 *I've been selective about what I close off: I'm keeping the link to this website public, I'm keeping messages, posts, and friend requests mostly public.  All this is so that I can continue to be exposed and have exposure.  There is some cognitive dissonance in there that I can't see.  Maybe its obvious to you, but I don't see it yet.  It will be fun to tease out over the next few days.
 *I'm making choices that will be reversible.  It makes room for this to be just a crisis.  Maybe it is.  It feels good right now, liberating too, and the process of doing it has been a ball.
-*Continuing to write this post.
+*Continuing to write this, to the world.
 ===Amazing things I didn't know about FB privacy that say something about the sophistication of Facebook and the number, length, and knuckles of its fingers===
@@ Line 48: / Line 45: @@
 [[Image:FacebookRegrets.png|700px|thumb]]
 Thanks 6!  And thanks especially to all those invisibles who actually quit without giving a thought to blogging it.