Okay. That’s not *entirely* true.
I deactivated my account, which is actually a super smart option for facebook to have available. It keeps your profile, your pictures, your everything exactly where you left it, and when you’re ready to return, all you have to do is ……. log in.
No teary goodbyes needed; undoubtedly, I will cave in at some point in the very near future and return to the beast that is called facebook.
Were it not for the fact that I have years of pictures on there that I’d be loathe to get rid of, and I don’t have the patience to put them all on a flash drive (or, for that matter, HAVE a flashdrive. Yup- that’s me: The epitome of being “with-it” on technology.), I would be tempted to delete the entire thing and call it a day.
Why my rage against THE social networking tool of our time?
….Beyond the fact that I hate being social?
It’s destroying my friendships.
Seriously.
It used to be that I thought about a friend, wondered how they were, and called them. Now, I go to their facebook page, find out what’s new with them, and move on. If they don’t have anything NEW on their facebook page, well, clearly they don’t have anything to talk about.
This could just be my inner-introvert speaking, but it’s made it easy to feel as though I’m keeping up with people without ever having to speak. Without having to write. Without having to deliberately tell people how things are with my day.
And it’s made it easy to stalk people and find out more than I want to know. Too many hours have been wasted pouring over the facebook page of that particular boy(and all of his female friends), checking out potential co-workers or interns, and pondering cryptic comments. Not to mention the awkwardness of playing dumb when you become friends with someone and they tell you information you learned months prior when you googled their email address.
Oh… that’s just me, huh?
*ahem*
Facebook has made it easy for introverts like me to recede further into our shells. It’s made it easy to “know” someone, without ever having to actually invest something in them. Certainly for most it is a helpful tool– an extension of their friendships as opposed to a replacement for them, but for me, it has made it easier to sit in my office with my door closed. I comment on a coworkers status update rather than asking about their weekend and fill my interaction quota for the day without actually INTERACTING. Funny, that.
So, with all the free time I will now find myself with (at least for the next week), I’ve decided to start the blog I’ve been intending for months. It was going to be called “Super Red”, but some blasted individual who blogged like three times a few years ago had already taken it. Sucks to be me.
Of course…. now that I’ve sworn off facebook, I’m not entirely sure how to promote this blog. RT, anyone? 
—
helpful quote of the day: “And sometimes there’s a third, even deeper level, and that one is the same as the top surface one. Like with pie.” – Billy, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Posted by "Dozing Listener" on December 9, 2010 at 12:10 am
Loved reading your post – very interesting observations about Facebook. Of course, anyone who uses FB knows how easy it is to “blow” time there! Enjoy your free time this week!