What? Why? Is everything okay with you? What’s wrong? Did something happen?
If you were to guess what I could have possibly done to elicit such a response from my friends and family, your guess would probably be something along the lines of: moving across the country or quitting my job or undergoing medical tests or becoming a vegan. You would be wrong. This is the response I got when I disclosed that I had deactivated my Facebook account.
You heard that right!
On Saturday, September 2nd I deactivated my Facebook account.
My friends and family were concerned as to why I would take such drastic action. Facebook these days is like an extension of a limb…essential to survival. How will you be connected to the world and know all the going-ons if you don’t have a Facebook account? I’ve had my account since 2006 when you had to have a college email address to join. Facebook was the the cool way to meet future classmates and be part of this exclusive college community. Since then the social network has clearly evolved and plays a big role in connecting people around the world, delivering information (fake or real) with the tap of a button, and promoting good and services whether needed or not. So why did I deactivate my Facebook account?
Top reasons for deactivating my Facebook account:
- To stop being obsessed and addicted to the social network site. I found myself going on the Facebook app on my phone every 10-15 minutes, sometimes more often to get updates on what my “Facebook friends” were doing and to find out the latest news and stories. Even though I knew that nothing of significance probably happened in the last 5 minutes, my fingers subconsciously found the Facebook app.
- To stop comparing my life to others. I’m in my late 20s so naturally many of my friends are around the same age. And this is the age of engagements, weddings, pregnancies, exotic travels, cool jobs, moves to awesome cities. Even though I know people’s lives are not as fabulous as their posts make it seem, I couldn’t stop the negative thoughts from swirling in my brain. When will my life become this fabulous? Why isn’t it already? Am I doing something wrong?
- To stop myself from creating a fake persona of myself. While my Facebook friends only posted happy things in their lives, I was doing the same. If you look at my posts you would think the same thing. I’m living the high life and am the happiest, most fabulous person in the world. Everyone wants to be just like me. (And to some degree this is true because I AM A FABULOUS PERSON!). My posts were all about my travels, delicious meals, political views, and random thoughts that no one actually cared about. These posts did not capture my feeling of loneliness living in a new city, unhappiness at my job, or the anxious thoughts running through my mind at all hours or the sleepless nights I experienced many nights. The real me or rather my whole self did not exist on Facebook. I felt like I was living a double life and that did not sit well with me. I was guilty of the thing that I did not like about my “Facebook friends” personas.
- To reduce the pain on my right wrist and thumb from constantly pressing the iPhone home button and Facebook app icon. I’m only 28 and do not want to get arthristis at such an early age.
- I did not want to know about the mundane things going on in people’s lives. I do not care if you walked your dog, or ate a sandwich, or went out to a bar or how much you LOVE your friends and family (okay this last one is a little dicey – I was guilty of the same).
To keep my mind and wrist healthy, I decided to deactivate my Facebook account. It’s almost been 4 months and I do not miss it. Let me repeat – I do not miss Facebook. I have subconsciously clicked on the app several times and do wonder what some of my friends are upto but the not seeing all the posts has certainly helped. I also don’t think I’m missing out on anything important. If an event or message is that important, my friends will find a way to contact me.
I will report back on how long my Facebook hiatus lasts but from the way this month has gone, I envision a while.
P.S. Do not replace your Facebook obsession with Instagram or Snapchat or other social networks. I have caught myself doing this several times. Stay strong! Stay strong!