Fleeing Facebook isn't easy
Bottom Line: In wake of the Cambridge Analytica controversy a new wave of Facebook defections is underway. Some users are upset about Facebook's role in data sharing and lax controls on user information. Many others are learning for the first time what's really in the fine print in that user agreement they never read and deciding to cut ties with it. Btw, this isn't surprising. I recently put together a story using the latest research that showed that 59% of all social media users said it wouldn't be hard for them to give it up. That's also not surprising because research has shown that the average person feels worse after using social media than they did before accessing it. But here's the thing. How easy is it to really delete your Facebook account?
While theoretically you can find the "Delete My Account" feature and use it on Facebook - that's not the end of the story by a long shot. First, your account actually remains as it was on Facebook's servers for two weeks - just in case you decide you want to reactivate it. Secondly, do you have other services/sites you use that're linked to Facebook? You can have your Facebook information still be shared by these other sites and sources and you might have trouble accessing some of these sites and services. And that's not all...
You might have noticed that occasionally a photo that shows up on a Google search will often remain for a while after it's been deleted or removed. That's because of the longer-term scrubbing process of deleted information from these major online services. It's all stored in backup servers for months at a minimum. In the case of Facebook - it's 90 days for deleted accounts. So, if your primary reason for deleting your Facebook account is your information being shared. That can still happen for a few months after your account is deleted. And that's the rest of the story (as the late great one would have said). Oh, and this nugget. If Facebook's your issue – so is Instagram and What's App – they're Facebook companies too.