I've been thinking for a while that I should quit facebook.
Facebook is such a love/hate relationship.
I LOVE seeing my friends!
I HATE sifting through all the junk to get there.
I spend a lot of time on facebook.
and ever single time I get off the computer, I think "Man, what a waste of time".
I've read a few studies about how checking facebook leaves people feeling more depressed than before. Even though facebook is supposed to help us feel more connected to the people around us, it often causes the opposite to occur. We feel more isolated.
This makes sense because people typically post the happiest, best pictures of themselves and their families. If people post the real nitty gritty hard-times stuff, their friends may lose interest.
SO if i'm only seeing someone's very best and i'm comparing it to the harsh, honest life I live,
I tend to feel like crap.
I also noticed something about myself.
I didn't care about who was liking or responding to my posts.
I cared about how many people did.
I didn't like that.
When I think of my friends, I want to think of the people I want to talk to or hang out with or get some lunch with.
I don't imagine all 400 facebook friends are my friends.
I imagine most as acquaintances and a few good friends.
If I really want to connect with my good friends, surely there's a better way than facebook.
And there is.
It's called a phone.
It's called email.
It's called a Christmas card.
Even TEXTING a friend feels more connected.
Because it's one-on-one.
My last post on facebook was about how I was deleting it. Here's some of what I said:
"The older my kids get, the more I realize I sure waste a lot of time. And I love all you great people but I don't care for all the forwarded stuff. The videos, recipes, "type amen" stuff, people who DESTROYED THIS OTHER PERSON WITH A COMEBACK. I really don't care. It's sucking away my time. There's so much good stuff that is getting in the way of the great stuff that I love."
The best part about deleting facebook was probably the replies I got about it.
People's comments just solidified the decision I had made.
People said things like, "Good for you! Amen! I don't even like facebook".
So if we all feel this way, why are we still on facebook?
Not me. I need to get it out of my life.
It's been 1 day since I deleted it.
And I've noticed an immediate change.
I already feel better.
I feel like...this forces me to work on my friendships.
Maybe others wouldn't like this feeling.
But if the only way to talk to my friends is to talk with them individually, then it forces me to really think about how i'm spending my time. Who do I WANT to talk to? WHEN can I find a time to do that?
Even if this experiment means I end up with like 5 good friends, maybe that's enough for me.
Maybe i'll be happier spending time with a few good people instead of watching another video about a dessert recipe.
Or reading different articles about the election.
Or how vaccines are actually terrible (Which is utterly bogus. They are incredible).
In the end, this is what it comes down to:
I'm trading facebook for fewer, better friendships.
I hope the experiment works.
