How to Quit Facebook for Good, From 10 People Who Have

Deciding to leave the social network is easy enough, but actually staying off presents its own challenges

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Last Friday, Facebook announced its largest security breach to date, compromising the data of nearly 50 million users. The news broke less than a year after Facebook came under fire for another security scandal when it was revealed that political data consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had collected personal information from users’ profiles. (Profiles on Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, may have been compromised as well, though only if users had linked their accounts to Facebook.) It’s no surprise that in the last year, 54 percent of Facebook users 18 and older have made changes to their privacy settings, according to a 2018 Pew Research Center survey. And some people are simply opting out of the social network entirely.

But while quitting Facebook seems like an easy fix, actually staying off the platform is easier said than done. At its most innocuous, Facebook is a database of birthdays and events and a way to communicate without picking up the phone. Eliminating this trove of social information can feel alienating — you’re missing out on invitations, life updates, and other touchstones that keep you both passively and actively involved in people’s lives. Plus, you’ll lose access to other services that you signed up for with your Facebook login, like Spotify and Tinder — with some apps, like Instagram, you can simply de-link, but in most cases, you’ll have to create entirely new accounts. (It’s worth noting that Instagram, while less scandal-plagued than its parent company, has its own issues with privacy, though it may seem like the lesser of two evils for people who don’t want to go cold turkey on all social media.) Despite the challenges, successfully deleting your account is possible. Here, 10 anti-Facebookers explain their strategies for successfully adjusting to life without the social platform.

Start writing letters.

I quit Facebook in 2010 and I’ve never missed it. I text with friends and family I want to keep in touch with. I’ve even started writing letters again.