A week ago today, I did the unthinkable: I deactivated my Facebook.
I know what you're thinking, and the answer is yes, I'm still breathing.
The fact of the matter is, Facebook, while useful for some purposes, was quickly becoming a serious drain on my life. I spent hour after hour on the social networking site, keeping tabs on what my friends had been up to, trying to stalk that guy in my American Writers class who I swear I've seen before, and generally zoning out as status after wall post after photo album would scroll across my screen.
I had several conversations with friends about the decision. In one particular instance, a friend and I discussed how "fake" and "one-dimensional" many of our relationships had become. We half-joked, half-mourned the fact that many interactions with a "friend" only involved the five seconds it took to post an "OMG I MISS YOU LET'S MAKE PLANSSSSSSSSSS!!!1!!" on his or her wall.
I'm not going to make the tired old "turn off your computers and look around at the world in front of you" argument here. I'm just as sick of hearing it, as I'm sure you are, and I won't subject you to it yet again, let alone from someone under the age of 40.
All I'm saying here is that, after a week of living in the isolation of a world without Facebook, I've survived. I may not know whose birthday is coming up, or have seen the crazy pictures of what my friends did downtown last Friday. But honestly, I don't really need to know just how many guys Lindsey danced with, and if someone is a good enough friend to me that I should know his birthday, I'll know his birthday.
Over the past week, I've been spending more and more time with my friends, instead of on Facebook chat, complaining about how we never see each other. Somehow, I've found that I've had the time to actually get my work done, with a reasonable amount of sleep to boot. I'm paying better attention in my classes than I have for the past two semesters, and I'm actually meeting new people in real life, people who I never would have met if I'd been too glued to my computer screen to walk outside.
Ok, so maybe I lied. I just made the "turn off your computers and look around at the world in front of you" argument. But you know what? I'm not about to apologize.
When it comes down to it, conveniences like Facebook do allow us to streamline our lives, but at a price. There's only so much an "About Me" section can express, and no one ever looks like they do in their profile pictures. Facebook may allow us to meet people from around the world, but so long as we limit ourselves to chats, messages, and pokes, we will never really get to know them.
I'll turn my Facebook back on eventually, but not before I take some time to really get to know the people in my life. I have some amazing friends, and I plan to appreciate them more than just stalking them on a Saturday night, curled up in my computer chair with a pint of Edy's. I owe my friends better than that.
So it's so long for now Facebook, because real life is a whole lot more fun, and because if I get one more poke notification, I swear to God I'll throw my computer out the window.
E-mail: clinton.hodnett@ubspectrum.com
