Stolen from a reddit post. It was a nice complete text, so I thought some of you might be interested. It references a couple tools that may or may not still exist/work, but everything can be done manually...
#### facebook removal guide ####
Since you don't want to be data-logged, "doing this a better way" pretty much means getting off Facebook. You could create a "watcher" account that simply keeps tabs on your friends, but the temptation is too great and I don't advise it. There are better, more meaningful ways to keep in touch - for example, hang out with your nearby friends and write letters to your faraway ones.
Easy, sloppy way? Deactivate your Facebook. Don't return to it while you're in the waiting period, and eventually your profile will be deactivated. You won't be able to use it, but it'll still be stored in their records forever.
Harder, complete way? DON'T deactivate your Facebook. If you do this, then FB has a complete record of you from 2009-2012. The only thing you've done in this case is stop your access to the account and their direct data logging, but they still know your friends, your likes/dislikes, et cetera. And they will use this information to build a "phantom profile" of you based on your friends activities and such.
Since they don't delete any data, the second-best way to remove your info on FB is to replace it with garbage. If you do this all at once, they'll be able to notice easily. Instead, you'll slowly and quietly replace all information on FB with useless junk data. The transition will be so gradual that the content-bots won't flag you, and you'll effectively become a nobody. Bonus points - you contribute to the number of spambots on FB!
UNO - inform all your friends of what you'll be doing. This is the only step I skipped, and I regret it. Send them a message on FB that you'll be getting in touch with them off of FB. Contact them through some non-Facebook means, and tell them how you'd prefer to be contacted. Telephone, AIM, email, whatever. (Keep it to your short list of friends - because calling or emailing is much harder than FB poking, you'll need to evaluate which of your FB 'friends' are actually friends. I was surprised.) Same goes for family - get all their emails and contact info so you won't be left out of the loop.
DOS - clean house. Rip all your data off FB, using GiveMeMyData or some similar tool. Then clear all your old junk off FB, using Exfoliate or some similar tool. I used Exfoliate to delete everything 1 week old or older. FB gets to know about it, but nobody else does!
TRES - make a timeline. Set a total amount of time - how long until you want to be rid of FB? I chose 1-2 years, to be on the safe side, but you're welcome to choose any amount of time. Divide this up into sections - by X date, you should be 75% true on FB. By X date, you should be 50%, then 25%, and finally 0% of the stuff on FB actually relates to you. Hold to this timeline, and keep it someplace you'll see. I printed mine out and tacked it on the wall by my computer.
CUATRO - start identifying ways FB can track you. This is actually easier if you assume they track everything, and start building a fake persona. You're a Democrat? FB You is a Republican! You like computers? FB You likes football! You work at an insurance agency? FB You is getting involved in politics! It's easy. While you're at it, make a quick note of things that could identify you - your friends, locations you like to hang out, groups you're a part of, where you work, where you live, etc.
CINCO - resist the urge to start closing off your privacy settings. Instead, open them wide! Make sure there's nothing embarrassing or incriminating on there (Exfoliate should have already done 80% of that) and then let the world see the new you! Start actively looking for new friends. At first, find friends of friends. Make it a habit to send out 2-3 friend requests per day. Once this is a trend that's well-established (a week?) start making more unsolicited friend requests. Go to the groups labeled "OMG I HEART RANDOM FRIENDS" and friend request three of them a day. Friend request DJs and political figures. Friend request businesses and Jersey Shore hags. The more vapid and brainless, the better. (Changing your profile pic to an attractive model makes your success rate skyrocket) Once you get a few accepted requests, start friending their friends. Build a network, a social group out of people who have never seen you before. It's actually easy! (Once I built a network, I started to notice people tagging me in group photos and mentioning me in their posts - even though I lived in a totally different country!)
SEIS - start erasing your previous info. Do it slowly, but consistently. Delete old photos of you. Remove tags. Change your interests and alter your work record. While you're creating your false persona, allow it to quietly overwrite your real persona. Use the data you collected from GiveMeMyData to make sure nobody you actually know is left on FB by the end.
SIETE - once your online profile has been reduced to nothing but randomly selected interests and a collection of people you don't know, simply stop using it. Maybe if you enjoy trolling, use your profile to mess with people or something - but it's done. It's junk data, a pile of useless 1s and 0s meant for nothing more than covering up the 1s and 0s you didn't like.
OCHO - maintain the new ways you kept in touch with your friends. I now have a wonderful hobby out of writing letters to people. When you tell people you don't have a Facebook, the next thing you'll hear is an incredulous "how do you keep in touch with your friends?" as if people never interacted before FB. When they ask that, you need to be ready. You write letters, you mail each other books you've read with little Post-its inside containing your thoughts and comments on particular sections, you play Halo together, you have coffee every Tuesday at Missy's Diner, you volunteer at your local high school, you go drinking together, there are infinite ways to keep in touch! Once you explore some of the real ways people interact, the pokes and games of FB look like the pale and lifeless gestures they always were.
NUEVE - ????
DIEZ - Profit!
#### facebook removal guide ####
Since you don't want to be data-logged, "doing this a better way" pretty much means getting off Facebook. You could create a "watcher" account that simply keeps tabs on your friends, but the temptation is too great and I don't advise it. There are better, more meaningful ways to keep in touch - for example, hang out with your nearby friends and write letters to your faraway ones.
Easy, sloppy way? Deactivate your Facebook. Don't return to it while you're in the waiting period, and eventually your profile will be deactivated. You won't be able to use it, but it'll still be stored in their records forever.
Harder, complete way? DON'T deactivate your Facebook. If you do this, then FB has a complete record of you from 2009-2012. The only thing you've done in this case is stop your access to the account and their direct data logging, but they still know your friends, your likes/dislikes, et cetera. And they will use this information to build a "phantom profile" of you based on your friends activities and such.
Since they don't delete any data, the second-best way to remove your info on FB is to replace it with garbage. If you do this all at once, they'll be able to notice easily. Instead, you'll slowly and quietly replace all information on FB with useless junk data. The transition will be so gradual that the content-bots won't flag you, and you'll effectively become a nobody. Bonus points - you contribute to the number of spambots on FB!
UNO - inform all your friends of what you'll be doing. This is the only step I skipped, and I regret it. Send them a message on FB that you'll be getting in touch with them off of FB. Contact them through some non-Facebook means, and tell them how you'd prefer to be contacted. Telephone, AIM, email, whatever. (Keep it to your short list of friends - because calling or emailing is much harder than FB poking, you'll need to evaluate which of your FB 'friends' are actually friends. I was surprised.) Same goes for family - get all their emails and contact info so you won't be left out of the loop.
DOS - clean house. Rip all your data off FB, using GiveMeMyData or some similar tool. Then clear all your old junk off FB, using Exfoliate or some similar tool. I used Exfoliate to delete everything 1 week old or older. FB gets to know about it, but nobody else does!
TRES - make a timeline. Set a total amount of time - how long until you want to be rid of FB? I chose 1-2 years, to be on the safe side, but you're welcome to choose any amount of time. Divide this up into sections - by X date, you should be 75% true on FB. By X date, you should be 50%, then 25%, and finally 0% of the stuff on FB actually relates to you. Hold to this timeline, and keep it someplace you'll see. I printed mine out and tacked it on the wall by my computer.
CUATRO - start identifying ways FB can track you. This is actually easier if you assume they track everything, and start building a fake persona. You're a Democrat? FB You is a Republican! You like computers? FB You likes football! You work at an insurance agency? FB You is getting involved in politics! It's easy. While you're at it, make a quick note of things that could identify you - your friends, locations you like to hang out, groups you're a part of, where you work, where you live, etc.
CINCO - resist the urge to start closing off your privacy settings. Instead, open them wide! Make sure there's nothing embarrassing or incriminating on there (Exfoliate should have already done 80% of that) and then let the world see the new you! Start actively looking for new friends. At first, find friends of friends. Make it a habit to send out 2-3 friend requests per day. Once this is a trend that's well-established (a week?) start making more unsolicited friend requests. Go to the groups labeled "OMG I HEART RANDOM FRIENDS" and friend request three of them a day. Friend request DJs and political figures. Friend request businesses and Jersey Shore hags. The more vapid and brainless, the better. (Changing your profile pic to an attractive model makes your success rate skyrocket) Once you get a few accepted requests, start friending their friends. Build a network, a social group out of people who have never seen you before. It's actually easy! (Once I built a network, I started to notice people tagging me in group photos and mentioning me in their posts - even though I lived in a totally different country!)
SEIS - start erasing your previous info. Do it slowly, but consistently. Delete old photos of you. Remove tags. Change your interests and alter your work record. While you're creating your false persona, allow it to quietly overwrite your real persona. Use the data you collected from GiveMeMyData to make sure nobody you actually know is left on FB by the end.
SIETE - once your online profile has been reduced to nothing but randomly selected interests and a collection of people you don't know, simply stop using it. Maybe if you enjoy trolling, use your profile to mess with people or something - but it's done. It's junk data, a pile of useless 1s and 0s meant for nothing more than covering up the 1s and 0s you didn't like.
OCHO - maintain the new ways you kept in touch with your friends. I now have a wonderful hobby out of writing letters to people. When you tell people you don't have a Facebook, the next thing you'll hear is an incredulous "how do you keep in touch with your friends?" as if people never interacted before FB. When they ask that, you need to be ready. You write letters, you mail each other books you've read with little Post-its inside containing your thoughts and comments on particular sections, you play Halo together, you have coffee every Tuesday at Missy's Diner, you volunteer at your local high school, you go drinking together, there are infinite ways to keep in touch! Once you explore some of the real ways people interact, the pokes and games of FB look like the pale and lifeless gestures they always were.
NUEVE - ????
DIEZ - Profit!