“Why I left ”: Stubbornly refusing to not exist even after opting out of ’s social graph ROBERT W. GEHL BY KOSTAS, JON-ROBERT AND PAULINE Facebook  Facebook is a business  Facebook is strong in providing identification credentials weak in search and in content management Profiles in social networks are representations of people

Facebook democracy  Facebook claims to be democratic  Facebook changed the terms of service  Users protested  Facebook’s new definition of democracy 1. 30% of monthly active users worldwide are required 2. One week to vote  Do people care about democracy in ?

Criticism on Facebook  Common criticism: gather as much private data as possible  The network effect  Is Facebook the Internet? No – but it wants to be  Facebook has monopolized its sphere of the Web 2.0 Leaving Facebook

. Big difference between deactivating and deleting

. “How much of me is in my fake account?”

. “Do the dead leave Facebook if they never leave our ?”

. We can’t own digital object

. What does “leaving Facebook” really mean? For what reason? [1/2]

Privacy concern ◦ “privacy is dead” ◦ Potential sells of information ◦ “the work of watching one another” – “it is a form of digital voyeurism”

Who receive value? ◦ It is not only free but affective labor ◦ “The price of having to endorse products for free is too high for the value returned” ◦ “Affection, love, and emotion are in fact required by Facebook”

For what reason? [2/2] Noise ◦ There is no filter or settings to prevent the social stream from becoming polluted ◦ “Finding meaning in noise is a time-consuming”

It’s mediated ◦ Facebook tries to categorize users into “premoulded boxes” ◦ “We are more than status update”

It just isn’t cool ◦ Facebook could be the next AOL ◦ Facebook is just a trend Conclusion

We need a theory of value that synthesizes: ◦ Desire and labor ◦ Subjectivity and objectivity ◦ Materiality and immateriality

This study is limited because it is not cross-cultural but there is value in looking to blogs when one starts a critical project. Questions Does Facebook form more of Gesellschafts or Gemeinschafts? Identify actors. What is in your opinion over the contribution of Facebook on and how it transforms Public Sphere? Should Facebook be used as a Tool of Political Engagement? Associate with ethical, societal and economic factors. General question: ◦ If you are a registered user, does this presentation entice you to delete your account? ◦ If you are not a registered user, will you ever attempt to become one after this presentation? ◦ For both cases, associate with Underdetermination

What are the consequences of such a large service as Facebook’s disregard of the users views on democracy?