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Comment by mock-possum | Hacker News Reader

Wait -

> We looked into the top 30 most popular apps people most want to delete in the United States by delving into regional search volumes for “delete” and “deactivate” apps/accounts by each state.

They’re not going off of actual app deletion or account deactivation data… they’re going off of how often people search for how to do it?

Here’s the thing - if I want to ‘delete Facebook’ then I’ll do it - there’s no searching involved, I go to my home screen, long-press the ‘f’ icon and then choose the ‘trash’ option. My decision to delete Facebook is not captured in their data.

What they’re measuring is stats on people too technologically illiterate to manage the apps installed on their own device, right? That’s a significant skew on the conclusions they’re drawing isn’t it?

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They are also counting absolute numbers instead of numbers relative to the size of the social network. That means the bigger ones will generally be higher. Instagram seems to be about 5 times the size of Snap but only has roughly 3 times the number of people seeking to leave the platform. That means relatively people are seeking to leave Snap more than Instagram.

Honestly this isn't a very good article and seems to just be blogspam.

I'm currently taking applications for my upcoming invite-only social media platform, which is more successful than Instagram because there is zero search trends for how to deactivate your account on it.

I didn't equate this metric with being more successful. In fact, it is closer to the opposite. Instagram is at the top of this list because they are more successful and have more users than several smaller social networks that have higher turnover.

I was agreeing with you

Fair enough, the intent of written sarcasm is hard to read.

> That means relatively people are seeking to leave Snap more than Instagram.

Can you even assume intent here? Maybe they are trying to delete the app for some other reason, like trying to save storage space or fix a bug.

This, 100%. This is like saying, white is the number one color of paper people crumple up and throw away. So?

> My decision to delete Facebook is not captured in their data.

I think for some people, it is. If I want to "delete Facebook" then I want to delete my account and every data associated with it. This is often not a straight forward process because sometimes the delete account option is buried in settings, you have to contact support, fill out a form, etc. Hence a quick search will guide you through the deletion process.

I deleted my FB account years ago, so this might have changed... but it's even less straightforward then you think. Instead of burying the "delete account" option in settings, they hid it entirely. You could find "deactivate account," but permanent deletion was only accessible if you knew the URL. Even then, Facebook kindly imposes a 30 day delay before deleting your account; if you log in in any way, even accidentally, before the 30 days pass, it resets the timer, reactivates your account, and you have to start from 30 again.

Instagram had a similar problem when I deleted it a year or so later: you couldn't delete your account from the app. You had to log in via a browser, navigate the very dated UI through to advanced settings, and request a deletion there. A lot of folks don't even know their Instagram password -- I think they just used SMS codes originally -- so it was surprisingly hard to get a password associated with my account so I could even log in via a browser!

I deleted fb many years ago and I was able to login when k tried last time. The world Delete lost its meaning i guess

> Here’s the thing - if I want to ‘delete Facebook’ then I’ll do it - there’s no searching involved, I go to my home screen, long-press the ‘f’ icon and then choose the ‘trash’ option.

But you haven't deleted your Facebook account. You've removed the app from your phone.

If your goal was to delete your Facebook account you've failed.

Each company has a different way to actually achieve (or come as close as they allow you) removing your account from their service. It's completely reasonable that (even technologically literate people) would need to search for how to accomplish that goal for service X, since the services tend to be intentionally somewhat hidden.

Note the search term in the article isn't "Delete Instragram *app*", it was "Delete Instagram Account". Those are different things.

It's been many years since I deleted my Facebook, but it was absolutely hidden like you describe. As far as I could tell there was no way to navigate directly to it from the site itself.

I hate to inform you but, as someone that has to directly deal with the average person that uses technology, the vast majority of people fall into the 'too technologically illiterate to manage the apps installed on their own device' category.

Wait, you think you stop having a facebook account by deleting the app on your phone? Probably shouldnt be calling other people tech illiterate tbh

I guess it depends on what you mean by “delete facebook” then doesn’t it.

Deleting an app is deleting an app. Deleting your account with a company is something different. You could keep the app installed on your phone, but delete your account.

The other skew is how straight-forward account deactivation is. Sites/apps that make deactivation obvious won't have as many searches. Deleting apps is equally easy for all apps.

>Here’s the thing - if I want to ‘delete Facebook’ then I’ll do it

stop to think about how many people in the world are not techy smart people and might need a reminder/refresher from time to time on how to delete an app. or maybe possibly, "delete an app" can mean something more like actually deleting their content from the platform and then deleting their account? but hey, they're technology illiterate anyways so who cares, right?

Edit: to remove the dang disapproved snark

Please follow the site guidelines even when—or rather, especially when—you find another comment annoying.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

If you’re on Android Facebook and Instagram can be installed by manufacturers with no option to delete.

>If you’re on Android Facebook and Instagram can be installed by manufacturers with no option to delete.

Which OEMs do that? I haven't seen that from HTC, Motorola or Google.

Not being snarky here. I'd like to know who actually does so. Allowing me to avoid them in the future[0].

[0] I'd note that LineageOS[1] doesn't do that either. I highly recommend it!

[1] https://lineageos.org/

https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/facebook-samsung-cant-de...

Samsung for one.

The submitted title was "Americans want to delete Instagram more than any other app", which (assuming the article hasnt' changed) looks like an editorialized title, which is against HN's rule ("Please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait; don't editorialize." - https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html).

Since the article's own title is misleading, I've edited it to make it clear that they measured searches for "delete".

You deleted the app not Facebook and it is absolutely not obvious how to delete your account.

> they’re going off of how often people search for how to do it?

Yes, its called a proxy. It's not perfect, but it's very likely has a strong correlation and low standard deviation from the truth.

> What they’re measuring is stats on people too technologically illiterate to manage the apps installed on their own device, right? That’s a significant skew on the conclusions they’re drawing isn’t it?

It's enough of a population to demonstrate probability.

Fair, but I guess that extrapolating that proportionally it is still relevant is not toooo far fetched. Certainly not accurate data, but a valid indication as pre-research.

Reading it more carefully, you can see the article consists of paragraphs with a number and word improvisation without any facts or trends whatsoever.

They are going off data they have, not perfect data that they do not have. Crazy. I guess you have never done any research at all?

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