It seems many people I know are quitting Facebook. Each person has their own reasons (curing an addiction, freeing themselves from technology, stepping away from drama, etc.) but they all have felt a little fearful of taking such an isolating step. Yet, they have all reported they would do it again.
On average, I would say I was spending about thirty minutes to an hour each day on Facebook. That doesn't sound too bad, but that time was scattered throughout my day (a minute here, a minute there) from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. While it was not controlling my life or consuming my physical actions, it was engulfing my brain. I found myself thinking in terms of Facebook: "This would make a great status update;" "so-and-so would get a kick out of this;" "my child hit a milestone, I must post about it!" I was a slave to Facebook in my mind.
After reading an excellent post on The Glamorous Life of a Housewife in which she says:
"A couple of weeks ago, as I was going about my daily routine and something happened, I immediately thought, 'Oh! I should share that on Facebook!' ... and it was right then and there that the Lord said to me loud and clear, 'Whitney! You are conversing with Facebook more than you are conversing with Me.'"This hit me close to home, and, as of today, I have not been on my personal Facebook account for three days though I have used my fan page for business/networking purposes.
I can report that I no longer feel as though I am thinking in terms of Facebook. When something throughout my day happens, I want to tell my husband, I want to talk to God, I want to run to those who are dearest to me and spread the news. I cannot say that I feel free or that I have more time to get other things done like many people say about de-Facebooking. I suppose I was always efficient enough to handle hopping on the computer here and there at the right time. But I feel closer to my loved ones than I ever have before. I feel closer to God than I ever have before.
When you have an exciting or dramatic moment happen through your day, who do you run to first? As a child, I could not wait to tell my parents. Once I was married, I could not wait to tell my husband. Once I connected deeply on Facebook, I could not wait to type in a status update to tell people with whom I really have no connection.
Sometimes it can be easy to spot the things in our lives that stand in the way of true intimacy with those we love. Other times, we may not realize it until it is gone. I do not intend to completely give up Facebook or delete my account like many others that I admire greatly, but I do intend to continue my extremely limited access. After all, it is so much more gratifying to save even the tiniest news about my simple day for my husband to hear first when he comes home after a long, Facebook-free workday. It truly is the little things that can take a relationship to a better level.
Which bandwagon are you on?
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