Well, the Facebook Fast has come and gone without much fanfare. In a move that has apparently become pretty popular, I gave up Facebook for Lent, lasting 40 days and culminating on Easter this past Sunday. Basically, I was spending too much time on the site doing nothing productive (looking around at pictures and checking statuses) so it was time to cut back.
Disconnection
To be honest, I did not miss the program much. I was wasting a lot of time on the site and wasn't really even using it to connect with people except new friends and to accept event invitations. My blog readership certainly went down because most people were clicking the link I'd put on Facebook before I quit. Aside from those things I really did not notice my life changing much.
In fact, I'd say it improved quite a bit! My feeling of needing to keep in touch with people was cut off immediately on Ash Wednesday when the fast started. I enjoyed being "off the map" as far as the Internet was concerned and preferred that people could not reach me as easily as they once could. It gave me a sense of freedom.
Connection
While the point of Facebook is to bring people together, I felt more connected with people once Facebook was removed from the equation. If I wanted to see someone, I had to call or email them. If I didn't have something to do, I'd have to text a few friends to see what their plans were. If an event was coming up that I didn't know about, I'd have to rely on friends to tell me or go out and find it. As a result, I started dispersing the duties of Facebook to other things like Twitter and simple word-of-mouth.
When Death Cab for Cutie announced their Pittsburgh date yesterday, I heard about it on Twitter because that is the site that is giving me my breaking news now. My friend's going away party that was advertised on Facebook? Other friends told me.
Did I miss stuff? Probably. You know, like all those concerts and open mics that I am invited to and never attend. And all those people who had babies that I was not aware were even pregnant. Something's telling me it won't matter much if I missed that some girl and some guy from high school that I haven't seen in 7 years are now engaged or dating or complicated or moving to Kansas or back in town or starting a new communist state in the south of Nova Scotia. If it's important, someone will tell me.
Showing posts with label facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label facebook. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Facebook Fasting
I'm giving up Facebook for Lent. That means on Wednesday I'm letting a friend change my password and de-activate my account so I cannot use it for 40 days. You won't be able to contact me using it, either! This could be suicide for my blog because I know so many of you find the link in my Facebook statuses, so I'd love to ask you to bookmark the page or follow me on Twitter (oh_hey_jake) to make sure you keep reading new posts while I'm "gone".
So why do it? Well, I think you know the answer to that question. We all waste so much time using Facebook. It's become a habit or, worse, an addiction. When I'm typing a paper I'll click over to it every few minutes to see what's changed. The issue is, though, that nothing important has happened! Rarely do I click over and see something that is life-changing and/or not something I would have encountered without Facebook. I read about so-and-so getting a new job or what's-her-name getting engaged or that-one-guy complaining about something-or-other. None of this is consequential to my life and I fear that I am also posting the same inconsequential material about my own life.
As I've discussed in previous posts, social networking has changed the way we interact with people. I need to re-center my interactions, remove myself from the computer, and remember what it's like to have real, important, genuine relationships with people. I do not believe that I am having ingenuine relationships at the moment, but I feel that they can get better.
Instead of writing on someone's wall, I should get a beer with them.
Instead of shooting someone a Facebook message, I should pick up the phone and call.
Instead of "liking" their comments, I should go visit them and see what other comments they have.
Instead of "friending" a nice young lady that I think is cool, I should just ask her out to lunch.
I don't think I've used Facebook incorrectly, but I think I can do better.
I look forward to this sacrifice. It will be a way to divert my wasted time back to my schoolwork during the home stretch, but more importantly it will be a way to reset the way I look at interactions. If you want to get a hold of me, give me a call or send me an email. I'll be back, but with a new way of looking at my relationships with people. You should do it, too!
So why do it? Well, I think you know the answer to that question. We all waste so much time using Facebook. It's become a habit or, worse, an addiction. When I'm typing a paper I'll click over to it every few minutes to see what's changed. The issue is, though, that nothing important has happened! Rarely do I click over and see something that is life-changing and/or not something I would have encountered without Facebook. I read about so-and-so getting a new job or what's-her-name getting engaged or that-one-guy complaining about something-or-other. None of this is consequential to my life and I fear that I am also posting the same inconsequential material about my own life.
As I've discussed in previous posts, social networking has changed the way we interact with people. I need to re-center my interactions, remove myself from the computer, and remember what it's like to have real, important, genuine relationships with people. I do not believe that I am having ingenuine relationships at the moment, but I feel that they can get better.
Instead of writing on someone's wall, I should get a beer with them.
Instead of shooting someone a Facebook message, I should pick up the phone and call.
Instead of "liking" their comments, I should go visit them and see what other comments they have.
Instead of "friending" a nice young lady that I think is cool, I should just ask her out to lunch.
I don't think I've used Facebook incorrectly, but I think I can do better.
I look forward to this sacrifice. It will be a way to divert my wasted time back to my schoolwork during the home stretch, but more importantly it will be a way to reset the way I look at interactions. If you want to get a hold of me, give me a call or send me an email. I'll be back, but with a new way of looking at my relationships with people. You should do it, too!
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