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!