Facebook break

Only those of you who read this blog or actually know me in real life will know why I recently deactivated my Facebook account.   For awhile now, I’ve felt like leaving Facebook was something my soul needed.   I know that sounds pretty bizarre to most of you.  What does that even mean?

I am one of those women who struggles with comparison.  How does my life measure up to so and so?  Wow, that couple seem to have no problems in their marriage.  They’re always so happy.   Braun and I have bad days.  Wow, she’s so fashionable.  I’ve got no style.   They’ve got such a beautiful house.  We live in a condo.   Facebook allowed me to spend time looking at other people’s lives and constantly play the comparison game and my soul was dying a bit because of it.   It made me unhappy.  Sometimes, I would feel bad about myself.  I started to feel like my marriage was suffering for it along with a feeling a lack of personal connection to my real friends.

It’s easy to be friends with people online.  You can make contact with people on your terms.   If you don’t feel like talking on the phone, how about a Facebook chat?  If you don’t want to Facebook chat, you can go offline and spend a lot of time looking at what seems to be going on in others’ lives.   Real life is messy at times.

So anyway, let’s get back to my break.  I told Braun that in the New Year, I wanted to be less dependent on Facebook and technology in general, but I didn’t really DO anything about it. I talked about it and though a lot about how  I didn’t want to come home and feel the need to find out what people were doing on Facebook (or Twitter). In the last month, I’ve seen news stories about how Facebook is making people unhappy.   These stories even specifically addressed the comparison problem.  Even driving home from my run tonight, I was listening to a story on NPR about a movement called “Slow Media” or something like that.   The story was about a woman who decided to go offline.  She stopped using the internet and a cell phone.  She lasted 4 months, but then got engaged and saw the need for the internet.  Even then, she alotted herself an hour a month. Did you read that?  AN HOUR A MONTH?  She did this for 6 months.  Afterward, she talked about how she doesn’t check email in the morning because she doesn’t want any of those e-mails to dictate how her day will start.  Smart.  I like that perspective.  She did log back on to the internet because she needed to be connected to friends, family and work.

It’s interesting to think that now, it’s weird to be disconnected.  Our lives in 2011 are incredibly dependent on the internet.   To choose to not be connected via Social Media is almost abnormal.

I guess I want to be abnormal…for a time.  I’m sure I’ll be back. I mean, I’m not saying good bye to the blog!  But, I do look forward to see how fulfilled my life can still be without Social Media.

So call me.  E-mail me (yes, I’m still e-mailing). Write me a note and send it.   Come visit.   I’ll make you coffee or pour you a glass of wine.

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