Facebook is this giant, multimillion company that ri
vals Microsoft, Google, Apple, IBM and other names. Most of your friends will probably be using it, and if not you'll probably be one of the first to ask what rock they have been living under.

And yet

Facebook has been in a negative news more and more of late. Regarding privacy most of all. Recently they've updated their privacy policy to a newer and easier to understand version.

A fellow from Tweakers (Dutch site) has summarized the new policy better than Facebook bothered to do however.

- How does Facebook handle my privacy?
~ If you create an account with Facebook you no longer have privacy.

- If I delete a message, picture or page, is it really gone?
~ No, the data will always remain in the big Facebook database.

Don't believe it? Well read it yourself.

Facebook does not care about iOS

Have you looked at the ratings people are giving the Facebook app for iOS?
Today it is 1.5 out of 5 stars. And, it's been between 1 and 2 stars for the better part of the last two years. Now, it's perfectly possible that a company releases a bad version of an app due to bugs or whatever, but to be one of the lowest rated apps on iOS for two whole years really puts you thinking. I can't imagine they don't "know" about it, and they have more than enough money to develop something better, so that only leaves us one remaining reason. They don't give a shit. No really, Facebook does not give a single shit on a shingle about it's iOS users. iOS users have been running away from the dreadful app since 2011. If you're curious why that is, then read this article. It's a good explanation, though it doesn't address why Facebook doesn't care.

Perhaps because the PC and Android userbase are simply bigger, or because most iOS uses have switched to simply using the safari version.

Poor choices

Pulling the messenger functionality from the app has really hurt Facebook's popularity. Most people don't want to install a single app full of advertisements, let alone two. Did you notice the Messenger app has a 1.5 star rating just like the Facebook app? Damn right.

Bad friends

Are you sick of getting spammed by your "friends" who feel you should play a certain game, or who are whoring out on your facebook timeline about having constructed another barn in FarmVille? You can block those messages obviously, but why should you? You can just delete that friend instead.

But, what if it's your mother?
But, what if it's your boss?
But, what if it's your girl/boyfriend?

Yeah, you're screwed either way. Aside that you should NEVER add your boss to facebook if you can help it. (Drunk weekend pictures where your friends tag you, hello?)

Dozens of "sponsored" links you have to scroll through on your timeline, fake likes, please share this to help some sick or crippled or mentally retarded kid in a third world country.
Let me tell you, those kids don't give two shits more or less about your likes than facebook cares about it's iOS userbase. So STOP sharing that SPAM! You are anoying your friends with that junk.

Obviously some appe are getting more greedy, and backhanded about using your facebook account to "save" your progress, or allow you to log in and share your data. Well, I highly recommend you create a special "phone facebook account" for yourself, and not use your main facebook for any of those games or apps. Privacy - you have none, remember?

Alternatives or the lesser evil

If you're planning to get rid of your Facebook account, you might be wondering "but, what else is there?". Well my friends, acquantances, lurkers, and random readers. There isn't. Not really anyway.

Sure, there's Google+, but it's little better than facebook, flooded with spammy nonsense you probably don't want to see any more than you want to see those crippled kids being shared on your timeline.

Twitter is, not really an alternative. It's a crapshoot. People drop 1-2 lines about the size or color of their poop that morning, and it's being massively targetted by advertising companies. Do not get near twitter with a ten foot pole.

Linkedin, no good. Mostly used by a crowd of jobless people who hope to post some stuff in the hopes of finding a new job faster.

Tumblr, mostly a picture only blog for artists. Doesn't come close to the abilities of blogger, wordpress,.. or facebook for that matter.

Pinterest, maybe. To be honest, it's one of the bigger names on the list that I've heard a lot about, but never really felt a need to check out myself. The thing about facebook is that everyone is using it, still, somehow. And nobody other than a mere 10 million and growing - is using Pinterest.

What to do...