Facebook problems

[johnincrete]

I don't use Facebook now but I get many messages (?posts) on my smart phone and it is annoying.

1. Is it possible to delete my Facebook account completey? If so, how - simple instructions for a simpleton please.
2. Alternatively, can I un-friend the nuisance posters? Again, remember i am a simpleton. Would these un-friended people know?

IF no solution, I will just delete the Facebook app on the phone

Thanks.

John (not a "social media" fan)

[Kilkis]

You can unfollow someone on Facebook. If you do that you won't get notifications from them but they won't know. Alternatively you can block someone , which is harsher. There is an article on Expert Reviews here. The article is from 2015 so the processes may have changed a little as Facebook updates itself but the ideas in the article are the same. Here are the processes on the Facebook help pages:

1 See this to unfollow someone.
2 See this to block someone.
3 See this to deactivate or delete an account

Warwick

[Yin&Yang]

Within the message you receive notifying you of a post there should be an opt out option, i.e. 'I no longer want to receive these notifications ...' That was the case a year ago when I opted out of notifications for someone on their behalf.

[SatCure]

Log in to Facebook.
Go to Account Settings.
Notifications.

Set as required.

Alternatively go to Account Settings then Manage Account and deactivate it.

[BrianS]

I get many messages (?posts) on my smart phone and it is annoying

No need to delete your Facebook account. On your smartphone go to Settings and locate the Notifications section where you can control what you want or don't want (sound alerts, pop-up messages etc) on each individual app.

Brian

[filippos]

The best way to avoid such problems is to not use Facebook in the first place.

[SatCure]

The best way to avoid such problems is to not use Facebook in the first place.

I tend to agree. Unfortunately, many of my acquaintances are now using Facebook Messenger instead of email!
(Great if you don't mind logging in every time and typing in a postage-stamp area.)

[filippos]

The best way to avoid such problems is to not use Facebook in the first place.

I tend to agree. Unfortunately, many of my acquaintances are now using Facebook Messenger instead of email!.......)

The only reason I can think of that would justify my having a Facebook account would be for business promotion and I don't have a business to promote. If I were to start a commercial enterprise I'd use FB, Instagram and my own website.
If friends/acquaintances have anything to say that they think interesting enough, they e-mail. I do likewise.
Anything important, urgent or just for a 'catch-up' chat I use the telephone substitute, Skype. I've even been known to use the latest technology - paper and a fountain pen that I've been using for 40 years. It's never crashed nor been trashed by lightning and takes less time to refill than it does to change a printer cartridge (and the ink is a darned sight cheaper).

[Kilkis]

I have also avoided Facebook and Twitter up to now. I have no interest in either of them myself BUT it is getting increasingly difficult to avoid them. One information group I have an interest in has now decided to form as a Facebook Group. The only way I can continue to access the information is to sign up to my own Facebook account and join the group. Similarly with some sites the only way you can comment is through Twitter. Extremely frustrating for non-believers.

Warwick

[johnincrete]

Thanks for the help. I will deal with Facebook when I have a young person with me who can help just as I did so many years ago when the VCR first came out.

One thing always puzzles me about Facebook is that, every day, the same people post something, often sharing someopne elses' post. What do these people do all day? And why should I want to know that unknown person A has become "friends" with unknown person B? Is it because A has no real friends?

The Face in Facebook is so misleading! I make real friends when I meet someone face-to-face, in real reality not in electronic "reality" - and there's another word shanghied to mean something quite different from its normal use, rather like "celebrity" and "gay". In fact, let's have a bit of fun - I'll create a new post about modern usage of old words so don't add your ideas here and so divert the original post.

[SatCure]

Facebook is all about making money. It gathers personal information about everyone in order to feed them "targeted" adverts (and possibly for more nefarious activities, which will never be admitted).

It's quite possible to waste hours every day by reading inane posts, messages and articles - some of which have a specific agenda (to change your opinion of something by twisting the facts - nothing new there).

In addition, dependent on the effectiveness of your "privacy" settings, anyone in the world (e.g. your prospective employer, national security service, police, the pervert round the corner) can read your posts and see your photos (and steal them). It's possible to build up a very comprehensive profile from your posts that might go back years.

I saw a post only this morning: "What was your first car. Post a photo of it!"
Over the weeks, add to this "what was your first school?" and "where did you marry/honeymoon?" your first pet, first job, etc. and pretty soon you've given away the answer to every "security question" that you are ever likely to use! Heck, even announcing your birth date to the world can potentially help someone intent on stealing your money or property.

This "Big Brother" system may be useful to governments (e.g. it has been used to catch cheats on "benefits") but might not be beneficial to the individual.

Similar comments apply to forums such as this, by the way. Once, just for fun, I used the search facility on another forum and built up the profile of a frequent-poster there. Google Earth, etc. even allowed me to get a photo of his house without moving from my chair! I was able to tell him the make & model of his TV aerial and his car. I was able to state the names of his wife and children, their ages and where he took his family each Tuesday at 10 am (great info. for a burglar!)

Note: I did this exercise only once, for research, but I'm certain that there are many people who are employed to do exactly this. And we make it so easy for them!

[peebee]

Facebook can be very useful - you just need to filter out or ignore all the cr@p.

[Kilkis]

...I saw a post only this morning: "What was your first car. Post a photo of it!"
Over the weeks, add to this "what was your first school?" and "where did you marry/honeymoon?" your first pet, first job, etc. and pretty soon you've given away the answer to every "security question" that you are ever likely to use! Heck, even announcing your birth date to the world can potentially help someone intent on stealing your money or property...

Barclays bank are currently running a series of adverts highlighting scams. The latest one shows you exactly that. On the left hand side of the screen is a series of typical posts that anyone might make. On the right it shows someone harvesting that publicly available data and gradually filling in a fake application for a credit card.

Warwick