Some of Facebook’s recent changes to their site have led to an increasing amount of interest from its users in seeing how to disconnect themselves from the social network site. Searching for how to quit Facebook” generated 16.9 million results on Google recently , while “how do I delete my Facebook account ” resulted in 15.9 million links.
Additionally, Google’s webspam chief Matt Cutts and Gizmodo founder Peter Rojas have decided to move away from Facebook. “I was spending more time managing my account than actually using my account,” said Rojas. “Having to constantly monitor the privacy settings was way too complicated. You can never be sure if you actually caught everything.”
There are currently two options offered by Facebook in deactivation and deleting. Deactivation means that users do not show up on commuinity pages, status updates are taken down, and the appropriate tags on photographs are taken down.
“We preserve the account in its entirety, said a Facebook spokesman. People often deactivate for temporary reasons and expect their content and information to be there for them when they return.
Deletion is the much more permanent option, where all but the most basic material is removed from the site. Facebook waits 14 days to delete the account to make sure users are certain
“Because deletion is irreversible, this allows people who mistakenly submitted a request to let us know so we can cancel it, said a Facebook spokesman.
Source: InformationWeek
