When you hear Instagram you think pictures, YouTube always makes you think of videos, but when you hear Facebook the first things that come to mind are probably privacy issues, ads, or scams. No matter how bad the reputation, Facebook remains the most popular social media giant, and you still have some friends and relatives that you like on there. If you’re not sure whether it’s time to leave Facebook or if you should keep your profile, have a look at the main pros and cons that we put together that will help you make up your mind.
Reasons to #DeleteFacebook Once And For All
If you’re not a fan of Facebook, some of the reasons listed below might seem obvious to you. But if you’ve never thought of deleting Facebook before, they might become a revelation. Here’s why you should consider deleting your Facebook account for good.
Ugly User Interface
UI is a big part of your experience on the site as a whole. You want the app that you’re using to be esthetically pleasing and user-friendly. Facebook fails at both. If you’ve never used or seen Facebook before and just went on the site for the first time today, most likely you’d find it ugly and inefficient. Everything from the menu bar to the settings seems disorganized and out of order. Most of it is plain unnecessary, like separate menu positions for Friends and Friend Lists or for Games, Gaming Video, and Live Video on the Home page. On top of that, your main feed on Facebook is covered with targeted ads of things from your recent Google searches.
Facebook Hurts Your Productivity
Due to Facebook’s desire to achieve everything at once, the platform has lost its original purpose of connecting people around the world and became a mess. It’s a mixture of a social network, a gaming platform, a media player, an advertising platform, a job search board and more. While this might be considered a good thing, since Facebook has all you could ever need at the same place, in reality it’s very distracting and inefficient. You come on Facebook with one purpose in mind, and get lost among other intrusive components of the app.
Using Facebook Makes You Vulnerable to Hackers
If multiple Facebook privacy scandals and data breaches weren’t enough, it turns out Facebook is also a go-to tool for hackers and cybercriminals to steal information from user accounts. There could be many different ways that hackers will try and get a hold of your data, including dodgy Facebook connected apps, quizzes, and fake adverts with malware. Make sure you’re taking all the preventative security measures and know how to recover your Facebook account if it gets hacked.
Facebook Scams
Facebook isn’t doing too well in protecting its users from scamming attempts either. Your Facebook account can become a great source of sensitive personal information that scammers will use for phishing when trying to steal your account. Especially if your profile is set to public and if you ever accept friend requests from strangers. Another common type of a Facebook scam is when a user forwards you a link on Messenger. If you get an unknown message from a stranger with little to no explanation and an attached link – most likely they’re using it to spread viruses or hack into your account.
Reasons to Stay on Facebook
Naturally, Facebook isn’t all bad. It’s still the biggest communication platform online, and it does offer plenty of networking opportunities to its users. Before you make the decision whether you should delete your Facebook account, here are some reasons that will make you consider staying on Facebook.
Jobs on Facebook
Facebook can help you with finding a job in more than one way. First of all, with such a wide outreach of Facebook, simply sharing a post that you’re open to new work opportunities can attract a potential employer’s attention and solve the problem. Another way to find a job would be by personally reaching out to your Facebook friends. Specifically to those that you know work in the same business industry as you do. Networking is a great job searching strategy, and where better to do it than a place with over 2.7 billion people. Finally, you can use the Jobs on Facebook tool to search and apply for jobs near you.
For the Sake of Good Memories
Many users have had their Facebook account for years now. That’s a lot of happy memories and emotional moments that you’ve shared with friends and family online. You might want to stay for the sake of keeping that digital history in case you ever want to go back and look through it. Instead of scrolling all the way down to a specific memory, you can use Facebook’s Memories tool to look back at what happened years ago on the same day, whether it’s a picture you were tagged in, or a post that you shared.
Ability to Look People Up Online
Since almost everyone’s on Facebook, it’s become a go-to tool for when you need to look someone up or verify that they’re a real person. That can be handy when you meet someone through an online dating app and want to make sure they’re not a scammer or a bot.
Your Digital Social Life
Once you delete your Facebook account, you’ll see how much of your social life is actually tied to the platform. We don’t realize how much Facebook helps us stay in touch with others and keep up-to-date with the main events in their lives. If you ever have to work from home, Facebook can become one of your main sources of socializing. People often change phone numbers and email addresses, but they’re most likely to have the same Facebook profile page. You can also use Facebook search for social gatherings and events in your area, both online and offline.
Should You Stay or Should You Go?
For many users the decision of deleting or keeping their Facebook account comes down to what’s easier: deactivating your account still takes time and effort. If after all you decide to get rid of your Facebook account, make sure you download and delete your data from Facebook first. Have you ever thought of deleting your Facebook account? What’s the main reason why you decided to stay on or leave Facebook? Share your Facebook experience with us in the comments section below.
