Home > Articles > Home & Office Computing > The Web/Virtual Worlds/Social Networking

Going Unsocial: How to Disconnect from Social Networking

Suffering from social media overload? Looking for ways to remove yourself from your social networking grind? When social networking becomes too much, it’s time to consider disconnecting from the grid. It’s not that easy to do, however; Facebook and its ilk have their hooks deep into your online persona, not just on their own sites but on many other interconnected sites. In this article, Facebook for Grown-Ups author Michael Miller shows you how to disconnect from Facebook and other social networks — and discusses what to expect when you’re no longer sharing online.
Like this article? We recommend

Like this article? We recommend

Social networking is a lot of work. You may find that it’s simply not worth the effort; your time might be better spent doing offline stuff instead of constantly posting and checking your news feed on Facebook and other social media.

When social networking becomes too much, it’s time to consider disconnecting from the grid. It’s not that easy to do, however; Facebook and its ilk have their hooks deep into your online persona, not just on their own sites but on many other interconnected sites.

Disconnecting, then, means tracing your social networking footprint through whatever sites and services it touches, and ever so firmly removing all traces of your participation. Here’s how to do it.

Disconnecting from Facebook

Let’s start with the Internet’s most popular social network, and also the most ubiquitous, Facebook. It’s tough for most folks to leave Facebook, given how much of your life you’ve probably shared with your Facebook friends; most people not only have tons of status updates registered, but also a fair number of photos and videos shared on the site.

Making matters worse, Facebook doesn’t make it easy for you to leave – literally. Put simply, Facebook does a pretty good job of hiding what you need to use to permanently erase your presence from the Facebook site.

The first issue is one of nomenclature, as Facebook gives you options for leaving the fold. You can deactivate your account, which temporarily hides your account information from others, or you can delete your account, which permanently removes your account information. Both have their pros and cons.

Deactivating your account is meant as a temporary solution. That is, it’s something that can be undone. When you deactivate your account, Facebook doesn’t actually delete your account information, it merely hides it so others can view it. Since you’re not really gone, you can easily reactivate your account at any time and recover all the stuff you’ve previously shared.

To deactivate your account, log onto Facebook, click the Account button at the top of any page, and select Account Settings. On the Account Settings page, select the Security tab and click the Deactivate Your Account link. At this point Facebook tugs at your heartstrings by showing you pictures of some of your Facebook friends, with the messages “Bob will miss you,” “Dinah will miss you,” and so forth. Resist the urge to change your mind, scroll to the Reason for Leaving section, and select just why it is you’re leaving. You’ll also need to leave any Facebook Groups you belong to; you may also want to check the Opt Out of Receiving Future Emails from Facebook option so you aren’t hounded to reactivate in the future. Click the Confirm button and Facebook will now hide your account from other Facebook users.

If you want a less reversible option, you can permanently delete your Facebook account. This is more difficult to do, for the simple reason that your Facebook account is likely connected to lots of other websites. To erase your presence from the Facebook site, you’ll also need to sever all these external connections to your Facebook account. But once you do that, you can leave Facebook free and clear – without fear of being sucked back into the network in the future.

Don’t have any connections between Facebook and other sites? Think again. Any site you’ve visited that has prompted you to log in with your Facebook information, any site where you’ve shared something to your Facebook profile, or any site that you’ve “liked” to Facebook, is connected to your Facebook account. These are official called Facebook Connect sites, and Facebook has done a good job encouraging the participation of thousands of other sites in this extended social network.

What you need to do is visit each of your personal Facebook Connect sites – especially those where you’ve been logging in with your Facebook account – and establish a different login method. Once you delete your Facebook account, you’ll no longer be able to log into these sites with your old Facebook account, so you want to make sure you can get in afterwards. Practically, this probably means logging in with your Facebook account, and then, once you’re in the site, changing your login information to something different.

This is also important because you can still log into these connected sites with your Facebook account info for two weeks after you’ve deleted your Facebook account. In spite of what you might think, this is not a good thing; if you log into a Facebook Connect website, you’ll actually undelete your newly deleted account, and have to start over with the deletion process. Better to do your homework ahead of time.

Once you’ve disconnected from all connected sites, you can formally delete your Facebook account. Log into Facebook and then go to http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=delete_account. You’ll have to enter this URL directly into your web browser; there’s no link (that I’ve been able to find, anyway) to this page from within Facebook. When you see the Delete My Account page, click the Submit button. You now see the Permanently Delete Account dialog box; enter your Facebook password and the CAPTCHA characters in the Security Check box. Click the Okay button and Facebook deletes your account – as long as you don’t log back into Facebook for the next 14 days. Any interaction with your Facebook account during this 14-day period will reactivate your account.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020