Well, I've signed off Facebook for a while, maybe forever. I still have my account (mostly because The Viewfinder Project's page is linked to my page) and I'll periodically go on to make sure I'm not missing some critical personal message or something. But many days will go by before I even log in. And then I'm only on for a maximum of five minutes. Why is this important, you may ask? Because Facebook became too big of a distraction in a long line of distractions. Instead of using my time alone reading, writing, cooking, exercising or doing something more personally fulfilling, I'd find myself lost in a sea of comments. Five minutes became twenty (which isn't that long but when you've got little kids, much can be accomplished with 20 minutes of alone time!!). I'd find myself pulling out my phone at the doctor's office or at the coffee shop to check Facebook instead of pulling out my book. It was becoming my go-to for passing the time.
Too many times I would sit down at my computer to accomplish some task and would quickly check FB. I'd get sucked in then would completely forget what I had originally sat down to do! Frustrating. And I don't know about anyone else, but I found myself comparing my life to life on Facebook...how much fun everyone seems to be having, what great moms and friends everyone seems to be...and would find myself feeling like I wasn't enough. These snapshots into people's lives are wonderful but can also be distracting from what I need to focus on in my own life. It's so strange. And I'm aware that much of what I'm saying is in many ways my own issue of discipline or focus or self-esteem or fill-in-the-blank. But whatever the reason, it was distracting. I never really wanted to get on FB. But then I did and it was fun and interesting and I love seeing all of the photos. And then it wasn't.
Facebook feels like it is replacing real communication in some way. Friends post invitations there, forgetting the non-Facebookers in the process. Big news is announced there. Prayer requests are made there. And that's well and good. But it increasingly seems to be the only place these things are made known. What happened to email? Or even a phone call? I am as guilty as anyone here so I'm not trying to throw stones. But it feels like an increasing Us vs. Them scenario, without anyone intending it to be so. So what do we do? I got off Facebook. I guess I'm becoming one of "them." And I'm trying to blog again, post photos to my blog. I'm trying to send more personal emails to my friends and family. Trying to connect in other ways. (And with a blog, at least I can make a book and keep posts and photos that I post!)
Ok. That's enough about that.
