Recent policy changes announced by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg have left some Facebook, Instagram, and Threads users contemplating whether to continue using the platforms. The changes include relaxing rules on harmful content like hate speech and replacing the fact-checking program with crowdsourced notes.
Steps to Consider Before Deleting Your Meta Social Media Account:
Save Your Data: Users planning to delete their Facebook accounts should first download a copy of all their personal information. This includes activity details, shared content, and data collected by the company. Users can select specific items to download, such as profiles, posts, messages, comments, reactions, friends list, ads clicked, and IP addresses used to connect to Facebook. The process is similar for Instagram and Threads users.
Staying in Touch: Before deleting your account, ensure you have contact details of friends or connections you wish to stay in touch with outside of Meta platforms.
Take a Break: If you're not ready to delete your account permanently, consider temporarily deactivating it to take a break from social media. This option allows you to reactivate your account at any time.
Deletion: For users ready to permanently delete their accounts, they can initiate the process through the account center. Once the deletion process is triggered, users have 30 days to change their minds before the account and all information are permanently deleted.
WhatsApp Considerations: Meta also owns WhatsApp, where users can export chat history or delete their accounts if they wish to switch to other chat services like iMessage or Signal.
Users should be aware that deleting a Threads account does not affect the corresponding Instagram account, but deleting an Instagram account will result in the deletion of the linked Threads account.
Overall, users are advised to carefully consider their options and ensure they have saved any necessary data before making a decision regarding their Meta social media accounts.
