This is basically an update to the last entry. As of 11am today, my Facebook account has been deleted for good. Decided in light of recent developments to dispense with the usual temporary break, and to get rid of the thing once and for all.
According to an email sent to me by the Facebots, my account will not be permanently gone until 30 days have expired, and I can log into my page at any time between now and then and stop the process. Not gonna happen.
Happy Halloween.
We're getting near the end of the month, and this means Halloween (of course), but also that my annual holiday hiatus from Facebook is approaching as well. I'm starting early this year. In the past I began these breaks around Thanksgiving, but this time it'll be for all of November and December, and I'll reactivate the account on the first of January.
That's the plan, anyway. But it's on shaky ground. I have had a difficult time finding justification to stick with the platform for the past couple of years, and have been threatening (to myself, anyway) to delete the account entirely. And recent disclosures about the way the company has been run are not helping sway me toward re-upping with Facebook after this coming break. Quite the opposite.
I'm no longer impressed with the platform as a promotional tool. And although I have many friends around the world with whom it seems to be our primary choice for casual communications, other means of contact are available to us. Every single time I log into the place, I can't help but admit that it is far from the enjoyable bulletin board it once was.
Anyway, I have a big decision to make. And the fact that whether or not to remain qualifies as a "big decision" is rather telling.
Yesterday was my father's birthday. He would have been 95, but he left this earthly plane for something more astral back in 2009. Last Saturday was my birthday, and it was the one I like to call the Beatles Birthday. That's right, 64. I was born the year that John and Paul met, lucky me.
October 9th will have been be John Lennon's 81st birthday.
So there you go. We all shine on, whether or not we're still here to enjoy our birthdays.