MySpace used to be the most popular social network on the internet. It revolutionized how we communicate with our family, friends and acquaintances online. At a certain point, it started filling up with spam, stalkers, pointless glitter and other nuisances that caused people to look for an alternative. Thankfully, Facebook was there to pick up the pieces and surpass MySpace as the general public’s virtual home.
Facebook was far more structured and consistent. You didn’t have to scroll around a friend’s profile in 4 directions to find what you were looking for. Pictures, were in the picture section, information was in the information section and best of all, if you wanted to read or see more, there was only one direction to scroll.
As they made the transition from MySpace to Facebook, many people deleted their old profile just to start anew on the new platform. It may be habit from the old days of Hotmail that would delete your account if it wasn’t used in 30 days but it’s a habit that needs to be broken. Profile s are being deleted not only when switching platforms but also when individuals are getting fed up with a service. Tons of people deleted their profiles when facebook changed from their old format to the new format. Profiles have also been deleted at each sweep of annoying viral applications such as Mafia Wars, Farmville, and which “fill in the blank” are you. Thankfully, Facebook now has a “hide” feature to help your ignore the crap.
Deleting your Account is Stupid
Deleting your account could be one of the stupidest things that you can do. There is no charge for leaving your account alone. You can change the privacy settings, not allow anyone access to your account and never receive another email notifying you of anything related to the platform. When you change your mind 3 months later, all you have to do is log in, change some settings and clean things up a little.
Deleting your account is like burning down your beautiful garden because you don’t want to attend to it anymore. Instead, you could just leave it alone and if you ever decide to take care of the garden again, all you have to do is some cleaning and get rid of some weeds.
Contacts are Crucial
If you watch Donald Trump’s Apprentice, you’ll see how important one’s contacts are. Each new job calls on celebrities to call on their contacts for help (usually charity donations). Contacts are Crucial and every successful businessperson, marketer, fundraiser or job seeker knows it. The more contacts you have, the more potential you have and the more opportunity that can come up. Some jobs are filled based on the applicant’s contact book alone. By deleting your profile, you could be cutting off some important contacts. Just ask Ryan McMahon, a comedian who got fed up with Facebook at a certain point and deleted his account with 2300 friends and followers. A move that substantially decreased traffic to his site and online material.
This past week Facebook surpassed Google for most visited site on the web according to Hitwise Intelligence. As a business person or celebrity, do you want knock down your Times Square location because there are too many tourists around?