Read this article in the New York Times about the FaceBook function that let's you download what FB has stored from you. Thought I'd give it a spin for my private life account, too.

An interesting feeling. Seeing your life spread out on the screen in neat little packages. Of course it is not my complete life. It is not like a diary that follows your emotions, encounters and places in a much more detailed fashion. This is FB, the snapshot of a digital social life of things, events, places and chats between people who you feel connected to in a special digital way. You browse through the different categories that FB provides, a life sorted in neat little drawers. A glimpse here, a recognition there. And many times, pure blanks. After reading through that social stream of concience, we should be posting more. Much! MUCH! MORE!

“50+ Singles - Meet someone special today! ”

— Timeline Screenshot of an Email received December 2016

What a perfectly targeted mail. I am 50+. I am not single, but I presume this shows the true spirit of dating sites...

“One word posting: “Huh?””

— A photo of a signpost on a boring green lawn "Creative Green - Gardening and Landscaping"

The timeline, an endless stream of one sentence exchanges with mostly people you don't have regular contact anymore. Most of them around our birthdays. At first (2008 as the earliest entry) text only, later enriched with emojis.

“Is catching up on admin stuff to go into vacations”

— December 2008

“Is holding hands with a baby that refuses to go to sleep”

— January 2009

“Strängest of experiences: 31 degrees, Christmas decoration, Tarantino movie about Nazis”

— November 2009 (from Sao Paulo, Brazil)

Interesting, too: the list of friends and when you befriended them. Last new friend: already a year ago, the graphic designer Anna for my Teen Monster Hunter cover. Is Facebook dead? Or just social friendships? First friend ever: Markus from Switzerland April 2008.

Even more interesting: declined friend requests. Some colleagues who are fitting for LinkedIn but not for FB. Some complete unknowns, the most obscure one: 毛华军 (November 2014)

“Had to press the “Like” button because there was no “Fear” button available.”

— January 2011 (after watching a video of an MIT robo dog jumping over a fence)

“Finished my Steve Jobs tribute evening - thanks to all Youtube contributors to enable us to remember a great man evolve from 1978 (hilarious video filmed before Steve’s first TV appearance, inquiring the way to the restroom) over the years through Apple, Next and Pixar to the latest and greatest achievements. Hearing the startup sound of my first Apple Macintosh Classic which I had bought from one of my first salaries is still burnt into my brain.”

— October 2011 on the evening of Steve Jobs passing

“Gave up watching a dreadful movie (Get Smart)”

— February 2009

How can a movie with Ann Hathaway be dreadful? Probably Steve Carell!

“101 useful iPhone tips - #34: Today in the office we suspected that the refrigerator light switch was broken so that the light was on constantly even when the door was closed. There is an app for that: switch on the video camera, put the iPhone into the fridge and close the door (for a second or so!).”

— Message posting June 2012

“I’ve traveled to 89 cities in 18 countries. How about you?”

— October 2012

There are even outstanding requests that I sent to people who never answered, oldest from 9 years ago!

Some categories in the friendship section are completely obscure:
"Followee" - a section that includes WTF: Mark Zuckerberg? The Mark Zuckerberg?
"Friend Peer Group" - Established Adult Life

"Established Adult Life" - Whut? WTF is this? Opposite to "Aimless Youth Party"? Or "Winding down retiree tiredness"?

“Santa Fe, a song by Beirut on Spotify.”

— August 2012 (after linking Spotify to Facebook)

“Jet lag compensation Starbucks visit. Local 21:30 equals 2:30 home equals a blinking 0:00 internal clock.”

— March 2014 with the status: Alex is feeling tired at Princeton University

“Am I stuck in the 90ies if I still like Jerry Seinfeld?”

— June 2014 (after watching my first episode of Comedians in Cars...)

“Can’t stop. Won’t stop. I covered some serious distance. Map your runs with Nike+.
4.29-mi run”

— May 2015 (Autobot message from my Nike+ App into FB)

“4 upcoming tour dates:
Frank Sinatra, David Bowie, Green Day, Death Cab for Cutie”

— November 2015 (Autobot message from one of my apps, maybe Bandsintown?)

Frank Sinatra? 2015? Really? Zombie time?

Advertising topics selected for me:

Bavaria,
The Police,
Food truck
Compliation Album (I hate! compliation albums)
Fast food (Man, that cinches it together with "Food truck")
Pro-Ject (sic!) No idea, what is this? A pro-duct of sorts?
States of Germany (Was facebook even around before 1989?)
David Grohl
Madchester
American Folk Music

“Estimated location inferred from IP 48.36, 10.848
Created: Wednesday, April 11, 2018 at 12:37pm UTC+02
IP Address: 89.204.135.179”

— Security log entry from today

The security logs show each and every IP address, MAC address plus some attempt of geolocation. BTW: The geolocation shown in the example was more than 1 mile away from my actual location that day.

List of Applications (excerpt):

frents - the social library - No idea. Sound early 2000, judging from the clever name
tape.tv - Ah, the now defunct service that helped me discover some beautiful bands
iPhoto - Ah, iPhoto, RIP.
Shpock - not even by name I have an idea what this was.
Music Glue
Lookfantastic - one of these complete unknown applications! No recollection of "linking" this one