Life

Quitting Facebook Just Got Harder

by Michelle Regalado

Every social media user has probably considered deleting a Facebook profile at least once or twice, but few of us have actually done so permanently — and now we’re even less likely to succeed. Facebook's new "Auto Reactivate" setting just made it that much harder to get rid of the site for good by offering a new feature that lets you cancel your account, but only for a set amount of days.

As The Daily Dot explains, the usual “Deactivate my account” option in the Facebook settings page is still there. But this time, when the form pops up asking you why you’re deactivating (offering reasons like “My account was hacked” and “I spend too much on Facebook”), there’s also a new feature called Auto Reactivate. This option allows users to schedule a time for their accounts to be brought back — anywhere from one day to a month from the time they originally deactivated it.

It’s a smart feature to offer if you think about some of the reasons users deactivate their accounts, whether they are studying for finals, giving up the site for Lent, or just want to test how long they can hold out without checking their newsfeeds every five seconds. Auto Reactivate gives people the chance to stay disconnected from the social network until midterms — or whatever your reasons for quitting — are over, but not a second longer. It’s almost like Facebook is saying, “We know you have a love/hate relationship with us, but we also know you can’t stay away.”

The regular form of deactivating is easy enough to overcome, since all you have to do to get your account back is log in. But since this new option automatically reactivates for you, it’ll now be easier than ever to give into temptation and log back on.

Oh, Facebook — always testing both our patience and our willpower.

Image: Giphy