I read the piece and also identified with the interviewee, but felt bad for not instantly cancelling my fb account.

I like to think of HN as a positive alternative to typical social sharing sites like fb or twitter.

I wasn't aware of the notion mentioned in the interview of social sites sharing photographic data with police in other countries-- that is enough reason to get out of the social networks for me.

That said, it is safe to say that social networks are absolutely entrenched in society. As individuals we can choose to not participate, but this is effectively the same as choosing to live in a mountain outside of society.