'Tis the season for Lent! This year I've decided to give up something big...even bigger than when I gave up my 'Nsync CD in sixth grade. I've decided to have 40 days and 40 nights of no Facebook. Whoa, right? My reasoning for giving up the FB is three fold: it promotes wasting time, it's slowly ruining society, and it will hopefully allow me to improve my relationships.
Let's start at the beginning. According to my handy dandy Facebook video, I've been a member since 2005. It's hard to deny that FB is great and valuable for many reasons. However, with the dawn of the smart phone, it seems like FB has become far too accessible. I can't even begin to tell you how much time of my day is wasted scrolling through my news feed. It's the first thing I do when I wake up and the last thing I do before I go to sleep. Why? Because I need to know what my friends are doing? Heavens no. More than anything, I think it's pure boredom causing me to log in. I had a big realization last week when I was having a less than stellar work week- the second I had the chance, I was checking my FB. It didn't matter that I still had work to do and that this was not the best use of my time, I needed an escape and FB provided me with that. Alarms started going off in my head- your escape should be a run, a friend, or usually in my case, baking something- not your news feed.
The whole wasting time piece definitely plays into my next reasoning-Facebook is changing society, and not necessarily in a good way. My friend and I recently had a conversation about how social media has given all of us a new sense of anxiety. When we look at what all of our friends are posting, what we often fail to remember is that people don't post the bad things that are happening in their life. All we see is the amazing vacation you took, your cute children, or the exciting restaurant you are trying. Our news feeds have created this false sense of reality that lead us to believe that everyone is living a happier life than us, not to mention the fact that we've all been transformed into a rather egocentric society. I love my FB friends, but truly, I do not need to know what you are doing and thinking, every second, of every day (especially when it has to do with your kid's diaper rash).
This leads me to when I do decide to post something. I'm suddenly anxious to see who will comment or like the post. I once watched my friend post a picture, then check his page every 3 minutes waiting to see if anyone had liked it. He started by thinking his picture was awesome, to wondering why no one else thought it was awesome, to contemplating deleting the picture altogether because after 10 minutes he only had 2 likes. How dare we let Facebook make us feel so doubtful of ourselves! Post your shit and be proud of it, (unless, of course, it's a political rant, in which case keep it to yourself). After 10 years of Facebook we've become a society that is obsessed- both with sharing things about ourselves and with prying into the lives of others. This is not healthy.
On to my last point- I'm hoping that taking a break from FB will lend me to improving the relationships that I have in my life. I recently saw a friend that I hadn't met up with in ages. We discussed things we had been doing, trips we'd taken, etc. and with each thing said, I noticed that we were both saying, "Oh yeah, I saw that on Facebook." So while life was happening, I got to watch it on a feed, rather than live it with my friend. That is not okay. I also went out to dinner with a group of girls last week. During said dinner, two girls had their phones out numerous times throughout the night where it was clear that they were checking their FB. Just know, that I will openly mock you for this type of behavior, because this is also not okay. If I want to know what someone is doing, I will talk to them...what a concept. Having 500+ friends on Facebook does not mean that you are a good friend. Bringing a friend cookies when they are having a bad day means you are a good friend.
So on this Fat Tuesday, I give to you my reasoning for giving up Facebook. Perhaps you'll do the same, or maybe you'll post incessantly on my wall and await my response with baited breath. Who knows, I guess I'll see in 40 days!
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