Facebook is one of the largest cesspits on the Internet. A pathetically low signal to noise ratio, utter lack of respect for user privacy, biased censorship, and a user-hostile interface overwhelm what few reasons there are to participate there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ve restricted my default Facebook view to only my immediate family and I rarely post. I keep Facebook Messenger around because it’s the easiest way for people I don’t regularly interact with to get in touch. My goal is to reduce my Facebook account to the equivalent of a white pages listing. If I have a compelling urge to share something, I’ll use this site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As my first share, here’s what I’ve done to limit my Facebook footprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the left-hand sidebar of your Facebook home page, click on the Friend Lists<\/strong> link under Explore<\/strong>. The Create List<\/em> button is at the top. Click that to get a popup window, give it a name like Immediate Family<\/em> or Close Friends<\/em> and add the people you interact with the most. Don’t worry, you’ll still see notifications from all of your Facebook Friends from the top toolbar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Click on your new list and you’ll go to a page where the timeline has only those people. Bookmark this in your browser and use it whenever you go to Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the left-hand sidebar of your new Facebook Immediate Family page, click on the Groups<\/strong> link under Explore<\/strong>. Check out all the groups you’ve joined. The number might surprise you. Ruthlessly eliminate as many as you can. Almost every group on Facebook has a separate web page you can follow instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Click on your name in the top bar, then the select About<\/strong>. Go through each section (Overview, Work and Education, Places You’ve Lived, Contact and Basic Info, Family and Relationships, Details About You, and Life Events) and delete it all. (Okay, I left in the link to my wife.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Click on the triangle in the upper right of the top bar and select Settings<\/strong>. Click on Privacy<\/strong> on the left and set the How People Find and Contact You<\/strong> settings as restrictively as you can. At the very least, limit most settings to Friends<\/em>. Click on Timeline and Tagging<\/strong> and do the same thing. Click on Mobile<\/strong> and remove your phone number (your battery will thank you). Click on **Public Posts* and limit access to your posts, comments, and profile to Friends<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One more potentially eye-opening setting is the number of applications that have access to your data. Click on Apps<\/strong> and remove as many as you possibly can. Aside from Facebook games, the only risky one I know of is Spotify<\/a>. You’ll want to change your login to use your email address instead of Facebook before removing it from the apps that can access your account.<\/p>\n\n\n\nGroups<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Profile<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Settings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Delete Facebook<\/h3>\n\n\n\n