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Over a year ago:
http://suicidemachine.org/

What amazes me is that everyone is fawning over the changes in FB. But no-one is standing up and saying "um, I noticed they were pitching advertisements at me for things that are relevant to me, but I have never revealed in a post or comment anything of the sort".

Yes, this has happened to me. Yes, something medically related appears as an advertisement, despite the fact that I have never mentioned it anywhere on FB. Yes, this is a potential privacy violation. Yes, it's damn spooky that they can figure this shit out. Yes, they are fucking watching you. No, it is not paranoia. Yes, they even admit that they know when people are going to break up by doing analysis on their postings - still believe they are not watching you?

If you think FB is still your kind, benevolent friend, then I have a bridge to sell you.

Social networking is great - for those profiting from it. If you are not profiting, then frankly, it's just another panopticon being presented with sickly-sweet trappings to tempt you into it. Once you enter, they do everything in their power to make sure you don't leave, a digital roach motel made complete with others to share your fate. You are the fucking product, being bought and sold like cattle. When you post about your activities, you are nothing more than a prostitute being passed around like a party favor. I hope you like having a hand rammed up your ass only to the wrist, because in about 10 more years (at this rate) that'll be the net effect.

Get out of FB while you can. I am not a walking ho-bag bent over for some corporate buttfucking. Neither are you.

If you are in social networking for profit, go die in a fucking fire.

It's not bad - I tend to use two profiles (email, fb, flickr, etc) so I scored an invite on my non-public profile and tried it out. Honestly, the potential is there but it's still rough. I find the sparks thing doesn't work worth a damn and with only one friend (currently) it's kind of difficult to really play with the circles to sort it out. I think in a few months it will be worth it but right now stick with facebook.

My biggest thing is that this time around I expect to be fully searchable by everyone eventually (facebook horror stories have taught me well) so my plan is to highly restrict my cross section - few photos, nothing incriminating nor inciting for statuses, no personal information which would help authorities get me in the dead of night, etc. Yes, it's extreme but I believe it's a matter of time before it becomes SOP for employers to regularly check the web for their employees doings. And to say nothing regarding what HR will be hunting for when hiring. Why risk it? If and when I get to the point that Google+ has a critical mass of family & friends on it I will probably commit facebook suicide

Finally, I also want to start to cultivate face-to-face friendships again. Social networking has let me keep up with family and friends, but I'm at the point where I want to have friends over for coffee, go for drinks, and just not have wires between people I care about. It's a tool, but a tool that has grown far too unwieldy for me.

Have you looked at the web 2.0 suicide machine? I think it's http://www.suicidemachine.org/ . It'll automate a bunch of that.

More specifically, you can use Web 2.0 Suicide.

http://suicidemachine.org/

It will automate that entire process.

They did something similar to FB Purity, a Greasemonkey script that allows users to filter out apps and other stuff they don't want to see in their feed. Facebook argued that they were misusing their "FB" trademark... eventually they let them continue under the name "fluff busting purity", probably due to the PR backlash that shutting them down would bring.

They've also shut down the Facebook portion of the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine, which runs scripts that allow a user to delete their social profiles as thoroughly as sites will allow. In that case, they argued that the Suicide Machine was violating their "Statement of Rights and Responsibilities"... which isn't even a law! Nonetheless, the Suicide Machine didn't have the financial ability to fight even frivolous claims like that, so they folded that section.

Facebook apparently believes that its users will continue using the site regardless of the ridiculous access policies that their legal department create and defend. I hope they're wrong.

If you really want to get out of Facebook completely try to commit suicide: http://suicidemachine.org/
Facebook tried to fight them, so here is some more Streisand effect for you. :)

There are automated services for this: suicidemachine.org

But it's not too late to stop giving them any more data!

http://suicidemachine.org/