Even though @PeterHunt apparently wrote this deletion feature, and stated on HN that your information really is deleted [1], I still don't believe him. Even if he is genuine, there is nothing to prove that since he wrote it, Facebook haven't changed that policy.
That is Facebook's core problem. They are the boy that cried wolf. We have seen them lie about privacy. We have seen how they have eroded our privacy, sometimes deliberately and sometimes by mistake. More importantly, we have seen them make these invasions into our privacy, and genuinely not seem to care.
The take-way from this, is that Facebook has become untrustable. As more people realize that, the more people will start deleting their accounts.
The challenge is (as a person that has deleted their Facebook account), is that you have to overcome the addiction and then the deal with the loss. You have to finally accept that the things you think you are missing out on really aren't that important. I personally found this quite hard to accept.
Giving up Facebook and giving up smoking are relatively similar, and I've done both.
That is Facebook's core problem. They are the boy that cried wolf. We have seen them lie about privacy. We have seen how they have eroded our privacy, sometimes deliberately and sometimes by mistake. More importantly, we have seen them make these invasions into our privacy, and genuinely not seem to care.
The take-way from this, is that Facebook has become untrustable. As more people realize that, the more people will start deleting their accounts.
The challenge is (as a person that has deleted their Facebook account), is that you have to overcome the addiction and then the deal with the loss. You have to finally accept that the things you think you are missing out on really aren't that important. I personally found this quite hard to accept.
Giving up Facebook and giving up smoking are relatively similar, and I've done both.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3320240