6 Reasons why I don’t use Facebook

That’s right, I don’t use Facebook.

No, I am not socially awkward or challenged. Well, maybe, kind of, but I feel I have valid reasons for shunning the social network that practically everyone not only has an account on but also use on a regular basis.

Who am I kidding, people try to stay online on Facebook all the time if they can afford the Internet.

Facebook is notorious for having bad security and while they update regularly to plug all security holes that come into their notice, for me that just doesn’t seem like enough. How many such flaws escape the eyes of Facebook? Do we know? Will we ever? Not to mention the fact that your data is shared with third parties (Facebook games, anyone) and while consent is taken, what can be done with the data is always hidden beneath pages of fine print and let’s be honest, how many of us actually read through all that before saying “Alright, I’m okay with giving my personal data to this company”?

The ads on Facebook have played a large role in me not using such a popular medium. Not only are they obtrusively hogging one fourth of your screen space but most such ads seem useless to me. Sure, I understand that ads are necessary for the economy and it keeps Facebook free and I would have no trouble putting up with them if they were displayed like the ads on Google or Gmail; in one corner where I can look at it if I want to. In fact I might even have tolerated the size of the ads, but what really annoys me is the fact that they are going to use my ‘likes’ to advertise pages to my friends. To me, this represents a great misuse of my data.

I don’t want my prospective employer or university to come across some drunk pictures my friends posted on Facebook when I was 16. This point is actually not directed towards Facebook alone but rather against all forms of social media in general. We all have moments of indiscretion and lapses of judgment, but before, they weren’t posted on the Internet to be preserved for posterity. Once something is one the net, you have no control over how it’s going to spread. Even if it is removed from your account, the photo or comment may linger somewhere else. Of course, a lot of you may argue that there are privacy settings to prevent people from seeing your pictures and while that is true, what is the guarantee that when somebody does a Google search for my name, the picture won’t pop up? After all, everyone who has access to the original picture can download it.

Facebook gives you everything in one place; in one unified interface, but I personally feel that it gives you the best of nothing. I’d use G+ over Facebook any day simply because I like the interface better as well as the concept of circles. In real life, not everyone is your ‘friend’ but you slot people into different circles. Chat, videos and even group chats are implemented better in G+ and the Photo system is at least as good as that of Facebook.

Do you guys remember when hanging out with friends was just hanging out, doing something you all enjoyed, instead of a series of long photo sessions with some food in between? I miss those days. Not to mention selfies. This is a matter of personal opinion, but I don’t want to contribute to the length of photo sessions and this is easiest to do when I don’t have Facebook.

Oh, and the number one reason. I have better things to do! Period.

In my opinion, the only thing Facebook has going for it is the fact that everyone is on it and it helps you to stay connected. It helps you to stay in touch and reconnect with old friends and while these are admirable benefits of using Facebook, for me, they just don’t cut it.