14 Reasons I Left Facebook

I re-activated then re-de-activated my account today. I had to remember why I left. Now I have... the 14 Reasons I Left Facebook:

1. Notifications can get quite annoying and there's no way to filter out which are important and which are not.
2. Event invites are the lamest thing I've ever witnessed. I know someone who missed his close friends engagement party because "You mean you didn't get my Facebook invite?"
3. It is always possible for things to be too close for comfort. When you lose control of the information you project to the world, crazy things happen... and people divorcing their spouses in pursuit of their college sweethearts is part of that phenomenon.
   
4. If there is any etiquette left in this generation it's definitely not reflected on Facebook.
5. You want emails, birthdays, personal info? Most people don't post that stuff anyway.
6. It seems that my theory on the "Facebook Paradigm" (see bottom) stands and the only people who have time to talk to you are the ones who should be put away.
7. People have this obsession with having as many friends as possible. I'm not sure if this is self-validation or for fun but studies show indicate that the human mind cannot retain personal information for groups larger than 150 - and that's for a first-rate mind.
8. Trust me when I say: Everything that can be done through Facebook can be done without it... besides...
9. If you do need something, you have a 100% better chance getting the answer you need in the time you need it by using either a phone or email.
10. Facebook chat doesn't work that well... ("sending"...)
11. People could stalk you but you can't stalk them... because you have stuff to do. (More traction for the "Facebook Paradigm").
12. Ok, so you can't see the dorky pictures of your friends oh-so-cool party that you missed. So that's one in favor...
    
13. Twitter, I think, already fills the basic gap that many have in their lives: To be seen and to be heard.
14. And finally... Facebook tries to validate that which so few people have: a Life. Get out and do something! We spend so much time trying to fill all the new free time we've been enriched with from generations of successful industry and innovation. Go hang out with your friends, fly a kite, do something stupid in public... but to sit in front of a computer for hours on end trying to make something of not-much rejects the value of "time-value".

The Facebook Paradigm
There are 2 types of people on Facebook (and Twitter for that matter - I hate to generalize but its true): The Dead and The Living. Those who have lives and those who don't. It seems to be the job of those who do to upload their lives in order to supplement the lack thereof to the less fortunate. If you have a life, live it! Also, you can now actually hang out, talk, show-off to your friends (enemies?) next time you see them (now that you're not just stalking them online). Facebook is not bad. It's just that it's gotten way out of hand.