"Quit Facebook Day" Flops

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
1
0
"Quit Facebook Day" Flops


The official Quit Facebook Day was a big flop, leading to speculation from industry observers that the event may have suffered because nobody actually knew it was official Quit Facebook Day.

Facebook [http://www.facebook.com] is suffering from a bit of an image problem these days thanks to its callous disregard for the privacy of its users. It doesn't even pretend to care and while I find that sort of honesty refreshing, a lot of people - or at least a lot of the people who talk about these things on the internet - see it as a far more serious transgression. Thus, the stage was set for some grassroots backlash in the form of Quit Facebook Day, encouraging users to give up the world's foremost social network in favor of "better" alternatives.

And like most grassroots movements, it tanked utterly. Less than 35,000 people "committed" to quitting on the VentureBeat [http://www.quitfacebookday.com/] put it, for every one person that quit, 15,000 didn't. In fact, if Facebook registrations ran at their usual pace, the people who quit would easily be outnumbered by new users who signed up on the same day.

I think it's a good bet that part of the problem is this: Quickly and without looking, when was Quit Facebook Day? Let's be honest here, you don't have any idea. You probably didn't even know there was such a thing at all. Don't feel too bad about it, because neither did we. And it's hard to attract people to your cause if you don't make a point of telling them about it once in awhile.

There's also the simple fact that people really like Facebook and probably wouldn't quit anyway. Privacy is great, but give up FarmVille? [http://www.facebook.com/FarmVille] Come on!


Permalink
 

Woodsey

New member
Aug 9, 2009
14,553
0
0
The whole privacy thing is getting a little tired now - it's been covered extensively, and it's not difficult to change the settings.

If you're going to use Facebook then it's up to you to know how to use it.

Anyway, you're right; I hadn't heard about this.
 

JEBWrench

New member
Apr 23, 2009
2,572
0
0
I heard about this. And I'd be willing to bet that of the 35,000 who signed up to quit, somewhere around 25,000 will be back in a week at the latest whining about how nobody else they know Quit Facebook Forever.

You know, just like it used to happen on IRC back when dinosaurs roamed the earth?
 

DazZ.

Elite Member
Jun 4, 2009
5,542
0
41
Did they advertise this on Facebook?

It most likely would have got more interest if they did.
 

ghostmpx

New member
May 31, 2010
5
0
0
I didn't know about it.

I think even if more people did know about it though it still wouldn't have ended up being that huge.
 

antidonkey

New member
Dec 10, 2009
1,724
0
0
I treat everyday as "don't bother with facebook" day. It seems to be working out quite well so far. They probably would have had more success with quit facebook day if they posted it on facebook.
 

Gildan Bladeborn

New member
Aug 11, 2009
3,044
0
0
I certainly had no idea that this 'event' existed, but it also wouldn't have much point for me considering I never started using The Facebook[footnote]That was its original name, which I will persist in using forever and ever, so there.[/footnote] in the first place, and I steadfastly refuse to ever start, no matter how many people tell me that I should.

Social networking is ridiculous.
 

Jima B

New member
Feb 14, 2010
13
0
0
I did make an account, don't really use it though. It's odd that people so openly broadcast private data over the internet, but if facebook was more secure, it wouldn't be this popular.

That said, I've never heard of "Quit facebook" day. It seems very badly advertised.
 

Wandrecanada

New member
Oct 3, 2008
460
0
0
Damn I missed it! Too bad I already quit long before but MAN do they make it hard to actually delete your account. I'm still not sure my stuff is gone and I can't go and check because in order to do so you'd have to log in which may or may not reactivate the account.

Facebook is one the biggest security risks in the history of the internet.
 

johnman

New member
Oct 14, 2008
2,915
0
0
I didn't know and wouldn't care, theres no useful infomation on my profile that Google doesn't already know about me.
 

FinalDream

[Insert Witty Remark Here]
Apr 6, 2010
1,402
0
0
I hate Facebook but it's the only way I can keep in easy contact with old friends.
 

mikecoulter

Elite Member
Dec 27, 2008
3,388
3
43
Haha, that's pretty good. Someone should arrange an "Official Join Twitter Day".

I hate having to use Facebook more due to my friends choices...
 

CloggedDonkey

New member
Nov 4, 2009
4,055
0
0
Okay, does the escapist get kickbacks every time it mentions farmville?

OT: I expected it wouldn't do to well when I first heard about it, just the fact that there where too many people to do a dent.
 

kaziard

New member
Oct 28, 2008
710
0
0
JEBWrench said:
I heard about this. And I'd be willing to bet that of the 35,000 who signed up to quit, somewhere around 25,000 will be back in a week at the latest whining about how nobody else they know Quit Facebook Forever.

You know, just like it used to happen on IRC back when dinosaurs roamed the earth?
ummm... it was only a 1 day thing, facebook wasn't encouraging its members to quit permanantly. I mean that would be (if you want the technical term) mind-bendingly "special"

OT i was aware that this was happening but i chose to ignore it (Y)

EDIT: my bad it would appear i was on the wrong end of the stick not you my good sir