Tuesday, 28 December 2010

• Quitting Facebook

  I've seen many different versions of this article: Why You Should Quit Facebook. I always shrugged such a recommendation off, because in my opinion, people who quit facebook were silly. I mean, Facebook is fun! It gives you the opportunity not to stalk people, but to vet people. With people you are interested in potentially dating, it gives you a glimpse at what they choose to share about their lives - and so, a glimpse of who they are. It gives you an opportunity to relax briefly during long periods of study. It allows you to stay in touch with people you haven't talked to in years. It's a huge address book, which saves you the hassle of getting all that information yourself. It's a good way to transmit information en masse.

  But there's always been a dark side to it for me. So, I almost quit many times in the past. But because I have so many memories on that site, I never wanted to let my account go. I've been a member for almost six years! That's a lot of wall posts!

  I realized some more things recently about Facebook's effect on me though, and while I've merely deactivated my account to test the effect it has on my life - I'm leaning towards getting rid of it permanently. Why?

  (1) Facebook leads to ADD. Yes, it gave me the opportunity to relax briefly during long periods of study. But you know what? After a while, it actually became a distraction. In fact, often, the following scenario played out. I would be doing something that required a lot of thought and concentration. In the midst of it, I would have an urge to go on Facebook, not because I wanted to see anything on the site, but just because I didn't want to think anymore. That could be ok, except it occurred every 20 minutes or so. My work process became disjointed and as a result, I was less productive.

  (2) When I think about all the time I've wasted on Facebook over the past almost six years, I could have done something really constructive.

  (3) Most of the people I'm friends with on Facebook, I never talk to in real life. I have 682 friends on Facebook. How many of them do I actually talk to frequently? Something like 10.

  (4) I dislike the narcissism that goes into selecting things for your profile. Or the way people look at these little bits of information to determine something about you. Remember that thing about vetting I said earlier? Facebook, in most cases, is probably one of the least reliable ways to vet someone. A more reliable way? Go on a date. I used to be one of those people who would think: which books/movies/artists/etc can I put in my profile that I like and will make me look good to other people? Who cares. Later on, my profile actually reflected more about who I am. My love for 30 rock, and Hyperbole and a Half, for example. But it's still silly to me that we sum each other up through Facebook profiles, or that we care that other people do this to us. Or that we sum ourselves up through Facebook profiles.

  (5) The people that I love and care about, I don't need Facebook to keep in touch with them. Also, I didn't like how I was turning more to Facebook to say things to them. In fact, I dislike the way the internet has made relationships more about convenience. Whatever happened to the personal? Also, having wall to wall conversations for your other acquaintances to see (and believe me, other people do view them, probably me), feels invasive.

  So with all that said, I'm removing myself from Facebook for the moment. I resolve to last at least a month, and I will report back at that time on what the effect on my life has been. For one thing, I'm going to take the time I would've spent on Facebook and try to do productive things.

   

   

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