Facebook mind

Talked to my friend M6 today, he pointed me to this awesome article: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/nov/25/generation-why/?pagination=false

I liked all kinds of things about that article. "tiny, exquisite movie star trailed by fan-boys through the snow wherever she went," and 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 just read "money." You only read that line when you read money and, in this case, "money."

And the message. The point about people simplifying themselves to fit in FB fields has a little talent, but its a typically self-important claim from the field of Human-computer-interaction. The big one was the romance of "its none of your business," which I'm only recently learning to appreciate, and getting the courage/ignorance to embrace.

Stage one ironies:

• writing this, to the world
• 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

I chose to just make everything private instead of deleting my account. I've never appreciated how many privacy options they have. Its a lot of options. Its been almost an hour. Stage two ironies:

• I've reduced what I share and who i share it with, changed my emergency contact to someone else's email address, changed my password to something I don't know, and changed the language. 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 somehwere. It will be fun to tease out.
• 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.

Amazing things I didn't know about that say something about the sophistication of Facebook and the number, length, and knuckles of each of its fingers:

• The "download your information" option under Account Settings is pretty cool.
• I never use FB apps, so I was really impressed that there were 16 with access to all kinds of stuff about me. You can delete them if you can find the page.
• They have really well developed information pages about security and privacy. Facebook showed me which of my friends "Liked" which of those pages. That really says a lot. Like a lot.
• If you've noticed FB or other pages saying that this or that friends likes this or that, well they're doing it with you too. You can turn all that off, though you have to go to three or four different places, under both Account and Privacy settings to do it.
• You can change your language to "English (Upside Down)." CHECK, MFers.
• There are many many many options and things to uncheck. It is much more difficult and informative than deleting your account outright. Oh, misspeak, there is no deleting your account. But you can deactivate. You'll be back.
• When you are in Japan, you have the option to share your blood type. (Stage three: You can't tell what bands I like but that picture of me on the toilet is still up.)
• Click on every option, tab, and blue link. A lot of options, like "Only me," are hidden in custom. FB is hiding its disapproval ...
• ... one exception: Facebook got worried when I turned off one of the social advertising features. I got a popup assuring me that I had been misinformed. Its like it feels.

It might just be a crisis. The metaphor to suicide is hard to miss, and it isn't lost on Facebook. Here is a screenshot of the deactivation page. Evil fucks. The more I go through the parts of this, the more I learn how much its a good idea. Its amazing how every step of talking about it is ironic. This is wild.