Every so often, a media outlet runs a trend piece about people quitting Facebook.

The New Yorker had one not long ago. The Chicago Tribune did one all the way back in 2010. The Huffington Post’s published a few, including a list of the 10 reasons you should quit the site.

Perhaps the most notable piece on the subject came in late 2011 from The New York Times, in which it found several young people who had bid Facebook adieu. Among the 20-somethings saying goodbye was Erika Gable, who (at the time) did PR for restaurants. She described Facebook chatter as virtual clutter, telling the Times with a laugh: “If I want to see my fifth cousin’s second baby, I’ll call them.”

In light of a new report, Gable might want to rethink her approach.

London’s Daily Mail on Tuesday published a roundup of sources indicating that not having a Facebook account is “suspicious.” It cites the German magazine Der Tagesspiegel, which in a recent article noted that neither the alleged Aurora movie-theater shooter James Holmes nor Norway’s Anders Behring Breivik had Facebook accounts.

The Daily Mail also mentions a Forbes report that said hiring managers are wary of young people who aren’t on Facebook, while a Slate.com column urged young people to avoid dating anyone without a presence on the social network.

Never mind that Facebook is also packed with narcissists.

The report suggests—by way of another source mentioned in the article—that older people needn’t worry about these judgments because they were “already productive adults” before social media took hold.

Either way, this story is sure to be a conversation piece.

(via Mashable)

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