Yesterday afternoon I decided to call time on my Facebook profile. I was a sceptical early adopter back in 2005, even to the point of declaring in print that the newborn social network didn’t have any kind of future – I mean who wanted to post status updates and photos of themselves online for all to see on the internet?

Two weeks later I had completely forgotten my MySpace password, I’m nothing if not fickle.

Still six years later, the novelty has worn off. I’ve poked, posted and shared my last for Zuckerberg. I’m not suggesting that my online demise will inspire legions of others to follow suit, but in wake of the news that 7 million active American users quit the site in May, it’s always comforting to know that one is ‘on-trend’.

Our collective understanding of social media has increased to such a point, that it is now possible to understand it for what it is, or isn't.

Myth: Facebook is social.

It isn’t. A UK survey revealed that 60% of Facebookers no longer kept in touch with 20% of their Facebook friends, and 50% of users only spoke to 20% of their friends. If you’re an average Facebook user with about 150 friends, this means you spend most of your time talking to quite a small group of people you already know. Or to put it another way, your average Facebooker spends a most of the time ignoring most of their friends.

Myth: Facebook helps you keep in touch

It doesn’t. Research findings like those above (and there are plenty of similar studies if you have an idle wander around Google) prove that despite amassing enormous lists of friends, we only really interact with a chosen few. You can also have as many friends as you like in your list, but a clever chap called Mollenhorst concluded that in the real world we replace just under half our friends every seven years. This supports my personal experience with my own Facebook friend roster.

Anyone that needs to know about Dunbar’s number already does, so I won’t go into it here, suffice to say that if you combine Dunbar’s magic 150 friends with Mollenhorst’s seven year cycle, it means that within a few years, most Facebook lists will be cluttered with defunct social connections. We’re only human, and we can only manage so many relationships at once. All Facebook does is keep a record of those old friends, lovers and colleagues – and remind you of their birthdays.

Myth: Facebook is social media

It isn’t, but it is media. People use language on Facebook they would never use in the real world. Status updates are often carefully crafted epithets. A clever bon mot here, some unbridled fury there, and frankly a great deal of hysteria everywhere. When Amy Winehouse came to her untimely but not unsurprising demise, the Facebook histrionics were on display in force. Ordinary, well-balanced people (in my 20% of active friends) who I thought I knew claimed to “ache inside” for Amy, and engaged in all manner of emotive language completely uncharacteristic of how they would normally communicate.

The status update has become a calling card to say “look how funny/sensitive/cool I can be, please like me”. The ability to ‘like’ a friend’s status creates an unnatural conversation that would never happen in the real world. Facebook has turned us into shameless self-promoters who crave recognition and admiration for our shares, posts and photos. I decided this wasn’t for me.

Myth: Facebook is over.

It isn’t. Me and my seven million Americans might have checked out, but Facebook usage continues to grow globally, nervous parents will still dread coming home to a house destroyed by a party helpfully advertised by one of their children on Facebook and couples will still meet or cheat in the playground that Zuckerberg has created.

I always know when to leave a party, and telling 20% of my friends that I was going was a liberating, even exhilarating experience. And if I forget anyone’s birthday, I’m sorry.

(NB: Please, no flowers for my Facebook funeral. I'm still on Twitter @MediaMarksy sharing links, thoughts, media bits and funny things to make you like me. You're welcome to follow - MS)