On the last day of 2009, I found myself reading Erick Schonfeld’s post on TechCrunch, “We all live in public now. Get used to it.” It made me think of the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine, especially after I read a reference in that post to a new word coined by some folks, (and that Stowe Boyd is fond of), “Publicy.” You know, as opposed to privacy.

Social media experts need to stop making up words. Now. But I digress, dear reader, I digress. This post is actually about Facebook’s recent move to block the Suicide Machine from doing its job. I think they just wasted their time and energy. Read on to get a glimpse into my thought process on this one.

The virtual suicide barrier and George Clooney

Suicide Machine makes it simple to erase your online presence – except from cached search engine entries of course – in case you want to make a clean break…or start over. This reminds me of George Clooney’s character in “Up in the Air.” The movie is the story of a man ready to make a connection. He does, but then it goes sour and he’s left with nothing. Remind you of any social media platforms you know?

Clooney’s character provides an example of his philosophy, where he likens carrying everything you own and everyone you know in a backpack. He points out how heavy that must be, then asks you to consider the one or two things you would take out of that pack and keep before setting it on fire. This is an exercise we all run through every now and then…or should, anyway.

And now, my point

Let’s look at the kind of person who may want to cancel a Facebook account:

• The Abandoner: “I haven’t logged in or done anything in months or read email updates. I’m just going to shut it down.”
• The Victim: “I’m the target of cyber bullies and need to get some space.”
• The Changer: “I’m going to switch to <insert social network here> and ditch Facebook.”
• The Peer-Pressured: “All my friends are switching to <insert social network here>.”

I can’t imagine a world where any of these user types would be stopped in their tracks by Facebook’s move. Especially considering how easy it is to deactivate your profile:

1. Log into Facebook
2. Click Settings (top right)
3. Click “Deactivate” under “Deactivate account”
4. Tell Facebook why you are deactivating your account

Then again, this step might be enough for some people to say “to hell with it” and go watch a surprised kitten video. Facebook would know best.

Bonus: A conspiracy theory!

Newspapers and magazines have long dealt with the suspicion that they’ve padded their readership numbers in order to demand higher payments from advertisers. I’m guessing Facebook may be doing something similar: Every single user, active or not, helps Facebook attract advertising dollars.