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WhatsApp Co-Founder Tells Everyone To Delete Facebook, Further Fueling the #DeleteFacebook Movement (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the call-to-arms dept.

"In 2014, Facebook bought WhatsApp for $16 billion, making its co-founders -- Jan Koum and Brian Acton -- very wealthy men," reports The Verge. "Koum continues to lead the company, but Acton quit earlier this year to start his own foundation." Today, Acton told his followers on Twitter to delete Facebook. From the report: "It is time," Acton wrote, adding the hashtag #deletefacebook. Acton, who is worth $6.5 billion, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nor did Facebook and WhatsApp. It was unclear whether Acton's feelings about Facebook extend to his own app. But last month, Acton invested $50 million into Signal, an independent alternative to WhatsApp. The tweet came after a bruising five-day period for Facebook that has seen regulators swarm and its stock price plunge following concerns over data privacy in the wake of revelations about Cambridge Analytica's misuse of user data. Acton isn't the only one taking to Twitter to announce their breakup with Facebook. The #DeleteFacebook movement is gaining steam following the New York Times' report about how the data of 50 million users had been unknowingly leaked and purchased to aid President Trump's successful 2016 bid for the presidency. For many users, the news "highlighted the danger of Facebook housing the personal information of billions of users," reports SFGate. "And even before the Cambridge Analytica news, Facebook has been grappling with its waning popularity in the U.S. The company lost 1 million domestic users last quarter -- its first quarterly drop in daily users."

10 of 307 comments (clear)

  1. Well... by burtosis · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's never to late to act sensibly.

  2. Money has nothing to do with it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Billionaire wants you to use his new app.

  3. Facebook-free by DaMattster · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I deleted my Facebook account back in the beginning of November 2017. I am now 120 days free from the bullshit! There is no way I will ever go back. I hope more people join the movement to delete Facebook and lead richer, fuller lives.

    1. Re:Facebook-free by monkeyxpress · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Since about 2-3 years ago I stopped using Facebook for personal stuff and now just post carefully curated things on it. I basically treat it as a public profile, so that if recruiters/customers etc go snooping for me they can have a look at some photos of my dog and see that I go on holiday every now and again. Pretty much like another linked-in.

      Most other people I know do the same. We've moved family and friend groups to other networks, or just use email.

      Does anyone actually share their life honestly on Facebook anymore? I don't even get many original posts from 'friends' now as my feed is always clogged up with adverts and viral videos. Personally I think the whole platform has jumped the shark, but will survive because lazy HR directors want to review job candidate's social media accounts instead of doing proper interviews.

    2. Re:Facebook-free by jellomizer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I never bother deleting it. You can also just stop using it.

      The biggest problem with Facebook, is the attempt to try to show that your life is a success, while others are doing the same thing. So you just kinda see things from peoples good day. I got promoted today! (While they are still underpaid for their skills). Look at my new apartment! (because I got evicted from the old one). Look at my New Car! (The last one was in a wreck). Look at my world travels (You are in the military, on shore leave and about to be redeployed or you job is throwing you across the world and that picture is the only site seeing you are doing before locking yourself in an office for the rest of the day)

      That and you see a combined posting of hundreds of people at least one of them is having a good day, so you feel like your few good days a year is somehow worse then others.

      In many ways Facebook has stopped us from growing up, we are reminded on a daily bases of all your inadequacies of your childhood.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  4. We know that already by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But people who know they should #delete FB don't have FB in the first place.

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
  5. Re:Facebook's business model? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Not even that. FB is under attack because wrong-thinking people used its capabilities.

    You mean like when Obama's campaign was doing the same thing? This is nothing new... when something is free to you, you're the product for sale.

  6. Re:Facebook's business model? by sycodon · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Not to mention that the data wasn't used to, "aid President Trump".

    He used RNC data, which was more accurate.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  7. Re: A Billionaire from a Chatting App by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    MAC addresses don't go very far in network protocols. The only way facebook can get it is if an app has slurped it up and sent it as part of the tracking data. Are apps doing this?! The person above was using a browser. Do browser APIs allow this? I hope not.

  8. Re:What does Facebook offer? by mark_reh · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "It's like Slashdot, only without the trolls and adults act like adults. "

    There's one very obvious FB user who shall not be named who neither acts like an adult nor avoids trolling. Then there's all the "fake news" that people are dumb enough to read, believe, and pass on to others who are equally gullible. FB and other social media appear to promise a lot, but the negatives they deliver far outweigh anything positive.

    If you want to talk to others with similar interests, join a club and interact with people face to face.