Minimalist Facebook Setup

I’ve heard a lot of people express their dislike for Facebook, not for the platform itself but the way that it’s used by others. I think Facebook is an awesome tool for communicating with family and friends, but I find that it can also be a very large distraction full of information that 99% of the time doesn’t relate to me. So why is it so hard for us to do away with Facebook? When I said ‘Well, why don’t we just deactivate our accounts?’ to some of my friends we both came to the same conclusion. It’s because there are people that we like to talk to and communicate with that just cannot reach us by other means. Either, they live in another country or it just isn’t practical to send a text. So here is my way of keeping in contact with those people while still freeing yourself from the distractions of Facebook. 

It’s a very simple set up that gives you absolute control. You are able to talk to who you want and do away with the distraction and unwanted status updates. Basically, it works by using a Google Chrome extension to block the Facebook site while using the Jabber capabilities that Facebook provides to access your messages on your desktop.

Software Used:

Note: If you use another browser such as Firefox, I’m sure there is an extension that works in a similar manner.

Which IM Client Should I Use?

  • Pidgin: An awesome client that I’ve used for a long time. If you’re using a PC or Linux machine then this is the way to go as you don’t really have any other option. If you’re a Mac user, I would recommend having a look at iChat or Adium as I think they provide a better overall experience on the Mac.
  • Adium: Another great client for Mac OS X. If you like to be able to customise your themes, emoticons, fonts and basically anything else that you can think of, go with Adium. There is a great skinning community that means you can tailor the look of Adium to your needs. It will take a little bit more setting up than Pidgin or iChat.
  • iChat: The standard Mac client that comes installed on every Mac computer. If you like Apple, stick with iChat. You get the slick Apple feel and it integrates with the OS very nicely. No option for customisation, but then again, no installation is needed and it’s very easy to use.

The Set Up:

  1. Install Google Chrome (if you haven’t already) and your IM client of choice (if needed).
  2. Head on over to the Facebook Chat site and follow the instructions on setting up your client of choice.
  3. Open up your client, you should see all your Facebook friends that are online. Talk to one of them to make sure it’s all working.
  4. Install the ‘Website Blocker’ extension for Chrome. 
  5. Click the spanner icon next to the URL bar in Chrome.
  6. Go to Tools > Extensions > Click on options under ‘Website Blocker’.
  7. Under the input box type ‘www.facebook.com’ and any other sites that you wish to block. 
  8. Click ‘Save’ and then ‘Close’.
  9. Head back on over to Facebook and you should receive a message telling you that the site is blocked.

You’re all done. At this point, you should be able to instant message with people on your friends list without having access to your wall and News Feed. I recognise that this is not fool proof and of course it takes a little bit of self control to not disable the site blocker.

At this point, you cannot access your messages as separate from your instant message conversations, which is a slight problem if you use that feature a lot. Luckily, Facebook offer a ‘Messenger’ App on iOS and Android that you can download of the respective store to use to check your messages. 

This is the set up that I’m using at the moment and I’m loving not having the distraction of my news feed and useless posts from others. Though, I realise that this system isn’t perfect, if anyone has any improvements or questions I would love to hear about them.

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.
Epicurus (via quote-book)
Why do people obsess over the idea of afterlife, when the emptiness before their birth offers no challenge to their imagination?
http://twitter.com/#!/thenicknelson
Everyone is always going through tough things, the irony in it is that everyone thinks what they’re going through is just as hard as what you are. Life isn’t about surviving this, it’s about understanding this.
Nicholas Sparks (via kari-shma)

(via quote-book)

I felt as if I was the only person awake in a city of sleepwalkers. That’s an illusion, of course. When you walk through a crowd of strangers it’s next door to impossible not to imagine that they’re all waxworks, but probably they’re thinking just the same about you.
George Orwell, Coming Up for Air (via absentia)

(via sullavita)

One day I’ll have a setup like this.
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One day I’ll have a setup like this.

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thepocketmouse: - sylvia plath, an excerpt from ‘the unabridged journals of sylvia plath’
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thepocketmouse:

- sylvia plath, an excerpt from ‘the unabridged journals of sylvia plath’

Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits. The rebels.
The troublemakers. The round
pegs in the square holes - the
ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules and
they have no respect for
the status quo. You can praise
them, disagree with them,
quote them, disbelieve them,
glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing that you
can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.

Q:WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE INANIMATE OBJECT?

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Clouds.

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