Why I'm Getting Rid of Facebook Again

Yesterday, after over a month of being "facebook-less", I reactivated my account. Originally I deactivated it because it was annoying me and proving a big time waster and, while there were a few times where I missed it, I largely enjoyed the freedom of not having an account. But the semester ended and thus my close friends are scattered around the country and the world. I decided to reactivate my account last night to stay in touch with them.

Already, I am seriously considering deactivating my account again. Here are some things I am noticing about my life when I am "facebook-less".

Without Facebook:

1) I am more intentional - I cannot simply stay updated on people's lives by stalking their walls. I have seek out to contact them by writing a note and calling them. When I know that someone is having a bad day, it's because I took the time to talk to them, not because their status update popped up in my news feed.

2) I am more grateful - Seeing relationship statuses change, seeing hundreds of albums of engagement pictures, wedding pictures and "baby bump" pictures can lead to some pretty serious discontentment pretty quickly. At the same time, seeing people post pictures of great vacations, cute apartments, new cars and more makes that 10th commandment all the easier to break. I've been practicing gratitude lately and not having facebook has helped a lot!

3) I simplify my life - I'm not trying to keep up with 563 peoples lives!! I tried parring down a bit. My list of "Friends" went down to about 120. But still... since when is the definition of a "Friend" someone who requested and was accepted? Isn't this simply cheapening true friendship? Facebook = overstimulation for me. There's too much going on in one little space. Plus, It's one less thing to check (i.e. phone, e-mail, blog, mailbox, etc).

4) I waste less time - I know it's silly, but I'm really terrible about doing things in moderation. I am an all or nothing kind of girl. So I'm perfectly content and truly happy to be without Facebook. But if I have it, I'm going to be thinking about all the time.


This may not be the most inspiring post. This is certainly not a well-written post. But perhaps it will at least provide insight to anyone who wonders why I suddenly fell off the face of the [facebook] world.

If you want to contact me, send a handwritten letter (you'll have my heart forever with that one!), leave a comment here, call or e-mail because I think I'm going to retreat back into the silence and simplicity of a life without facebook.... The world is quieter there....