A few months ago, there was a tweet from one of my friends seeking help to get back her Facebook account. Before I could reply, there was another tweet from her. Though she had removed her account, she was able to go back to it just by logging in again!

Deactivating a Facebook account is different from deleting it. Deactivating is easy, but deleting is not.

Deleting the account removes it totally. But before you delete your account, ensure that you remove all the Facebook Connects you have joined. Also, delete all the cookies in the computers where you access Facebook.

Now, go to this URL:

>http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=delete _account .

Once you confirm, Facebook will still not let you go easily. It will give you 14 days to reconsider your decision. If you log in again within the 14-day period, your Facebook account will be restored.

So, if you really want to get rid of your Facebook account, you must ensure that you don't log in to your account till the 14-day period ends. You may be curious to find out whether your account has been deleted, but you must resist the curiosity with all your might. You must also ensure all the Facebook ‘connects' have been removed and none of your other devices including your mobile phones or tablets, access your Facebook account. It is better to remove all the Facebook log-in information including passwords from your mobiles, tablets, notebooks and PCs — wherever you have stored them.

You should also not click on any Facebook links, including ‘Like' buttons. If you are using Facbook chat through any IM clients such as MSN, Meebo, Pidgin or Digsby, delete all the Facebook information in all the clients, so they don't connect to Facebook when you log into them.

If you do all this, you will be able to get rid of your Facebook account once for all.

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