[A very smart post from Ryan Block surrounding his departure from Facebook and Instagram](http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/31/126113/):
>In my search for technology products and services that somehow enrich or add value to my life, Facebook and Instagram have been a net negative not only in their usefulness, but also in other, subtle ways most people don’t often consider.
At the end of his post, Block turns the most often asked question back on people in a very smart way:
>People wondering what there is to gain by thinning their online accounts sometimes ask: “Why quit?” Instead, I think every once in a while we should all ask ourselves: “Why stay?”
[I’ve seen, and heard of, many conflicts](http://brooksreview.net/2010/11/facebooo/) that have started because of a stupid Facebook comment, “like”, or “tag”. It’s so dumb to me that at times I have a hard time stopping my eyes from rolling. ((It’s to the point where my wife knows better than to bring up that a fight started on Facebook to me, lest I go off on a 40-60 minute rant about how stupid that is.))
These [small slights that people perceive](http://brooksreview.net/2011/05/follow/) with online social networking drive me further and further away from services where people are no longer rational.
I think that is why I like App.net so very much. The paid nature of the service means that users of the service respect what is going on *more* than they do on free services. I’ve had plenty of negative comments on App.net, but rarely are they stupid negative comments like the ones I am used to in my inbox and on Twitter.