Facebook suicide is a bold move, but is the option of choice for those who wish to make an emphatic departure from the popular social networking site. It's a bit tricky for users to erase their virtual identities from the site--Facebook has a number of features in place to make the process confusing and to discourage it--but it can be done. Many users declared their intention to commit Facebook suicide on May 31, 2010, and a recent Sophos poll found that an estimated 60 percent of users are thinking about closing their Facebook accounts due to privacy concerns. http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20005556-245.html

The Process: Deactivating vs. Deleting Your Account

Deactivating your account simply hides your profile data and leaves it stored on Facebook's servers. Deleting your account will truly erase your Facebook identity, and is the only permanent way to remove your personal information from the site.

Deactivation is easy on a technical level, though Facebook will try to discourage you from selecting that option on your account interface by immediate popping up a screen that says, "Are you sure you want to deactivate your account? Your (insert number) friends will no longer be able to keep in touch with you." The message will appear along with a randomly chosen profile photo from your friends list, and a line of text suggesting you send that person a message. When you click the appropriate link to confirm your intention, a screen will appear that reminds you the action is temporary, and you can log in anytime to reactivate your account. You will need to click an additional checkbox on the confirmation page to opt out of receiving email notifications from Facebook. While deactivated, your intellectual property is still subject to the terms of service clause that gives the company "a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook." http://www.groovypost.com/howto/security/permanently-delete-your-facebook-profile-account/ http://www.facebook.com/terms.php

To commit a permanent Facebook suicide, you need to delete your account. You can accomplish this by by visiting www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=delete_account and following the steps described there. Upon completing the steps, all your account data should be erased within 14 days so long as you do not log in. (Facebook has set up a safety net of allowing users to abort their departure by the simple act of logging in within two weeks of deleting their account).

Social Networking Suicide Machines

At least two social networking "suicide Machine" applications have been developed as alternatives to the process of users manually deleting their accounts. Facebook has recently taken measures to block members from using these applications. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=120004

An application called "Web 2.0 Suicide Machine"was built to delete one's profiles on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and Twitter, simply by providing appropriate login info at suicidemachine.org. Upon receiving login details for one or all available social networking sites, a browser opens that lets the user watch the process of all personal data being removed. Statistics on the application's promotional site claim that 504,978 users have deleted social networking profiles via the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine. http://suicidemachine.org

A second suicide app, "Seppukoo," was named after the Japanese Samurai mode of suicide that involved slicing one's stomach with a sword. While this application made a dramatic statement by hiding profile data and replacing it with a "memorial page," it was never a truly effective suicide; rather, it was a form of account deactivation that portrayed the user as "dead" while failing to remove all personal data from the Facebook servers. The app was designed by a group of Italian programmers who refer to themselves as "Les Liens Invisiblesto." http://www.seppukoo.com http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=120004

While the "Quit Facebook Day" movement drew much media buzz around users making a decision to delete their accounts, the coined term "Facebook suicide" has been around much longer. Even before Facebook's recent and highly controversial manipulation of user privacy settings, many members were giving thought to whether the many hours they spent on the site were a productive use of their time. http://gizmodo.com/5530178/top-ten-reasons-you-should-quit-facebook

In a 2007 feature on Facebook Suicide, Times Online writer Emma Justice reported: "Although it’s impossible to estimate exactly how many people have 'deactivated' (the site has yet to release figures), there are a growing number of Facebook suicide groups on the site. One, the Facebook Mass Suicide Club, encourages members to 'cancel your account before it consumes you. Join this group so we can do it together!' " Users interviewed for the Times Online article cited a wide variety of reasons for leaving the site, including a desire to focus on their relationships in the real world, concerns about sharing so much information about their personal lives online, and changing evaluations of whether or not it's really a good thing to prioritize "staying connected" to people from their past. http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/body_and_soul/article2452928.ece