WHY I DECIDED TO GIVE UP FACEBOOK FOR ONE MONTH
Some would say writing a blog post about quitting Facebook and then posting the blog link ON Facebook is a little counter-intuitive. Others would say it’s very meta. Me? I just want people reading my blog, okay?
The thought of giving up social media has been lingering ever since I got into an argument on Reddit about which episode of ‘Friends’ was the funniest with who I am assuming was a 15 year old girl. Angered, I vowed to myself that I would just stop voicing my opinion anytime and anywhere – except on this blog and after two martinis at dinner.
I ultimately decided Facebook would be the first to go.
Since its launch in 2005, the social media site has gone from a platform to connect with old friends and classmates to a laundry list of everyone’s problems and annoyances. At first, I found this aspect pretty interesting and exciting, and I definitely played my part in posting the, “Ugh, it’s so cold in NYC in December!”…”The A train is running local, AGAIN!”…and the ever elusive, “Karma will get you one way or another” updates.
I am able to look back at my sometimes nauseating and cringe-worthy statuses via TimeHop. This app essentially gives you a look about what you complained about 7 years ago. Literally today I looked at the app and 1 year ago my post was, “Fuck the MTA.” 4 years ago it was, “Drinks? Anyone?” and 6 years ago it read, “I hate writing papers for college.”
Reading them back this morning, I winced into my coffee. I thought to myself, “Who the hell even cares?!”
The past few months I have tried turning the tables a bit on social media and only posting funny anecdotes from my everyday life: A story about something the guy at Dunkin’ Donuts did, a humorous tale from my job, and even a narration about teaching my 70 year old parents how to set up their DVD player. I have found I enjoy writing these short stories on Facebook in hopes of brightening someone’s mood and making my friends smile. Believe it or not, I sometimes get messages from various friends telling me my Facebook updates made their day. This aspect of social media makes me happy.
The second way I use social media, mainly Facebook, is for self-promotion. In case you have lived under a rock (or hid me from your Timeline) I have a food blog* that I am trying to promote. Posting my latest articles on Facebook truly gives me so many page views and shares that I am so thankful to have. But, for the month of May – and maybe forever – I am deciding to give up this free marketing tool.
The main reason for abandoning Facebook is that I just found myself getting angry whenever I would log on. Someone would be venting about a fight they had with “someone” and I found myself extremely captivated. I put someone in quotes because no one ever shares with you the entire story. They just say something vague and cliché like, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me,” leaving the reader to decipher just WHO fooled them. When in all reality, we went to pre-school together and I barely know you. So, I don’t even CARE who fooled you. But it takes up time in my day when I scroll through your posts trying to decide if it was Karen or Bethany.
Another reason is that I am just sick and tired of reading everyone’s opinion on everything. I understand opinions are like assholes, but posting them on social media (almost every day) makes you an asshole. Save these important conversations about religion, politics, race, and vegetarianism for small, in-person debates. Don’t say something you know nothing about just to cause a mutiny on your wall where everyone thinks they now have the right to voice their outlook. I sometimes find myself spending hours of my day reading long-winded posts followed by 100 comments of people either agreeing, disagreeing, or promoting vegetarianism. There must be a better way for me to use my time!
Lastly, and this may be a sore subject and I will probably get reamed by a lot of people but, we don’t want to see pictures of your baby. Or of you sitting in traffic. Or of your engagement ring. Or of your “throwback” from last week.
There, I said it! Boy do I feel lighter.
All in all, I mean for this post to be taken in jest. I love almost all of my Facebook friends and I am going to miss seeing what you are up to on your everyday life. But I just feel, at this time, that I want to be disconnected from at least one social media platform for 30 days. Wait, how many days are in May? 30 or 31? Eh, I’ll probably give up by May 7th anyways…
And if you find yourself sitting there, staring at your iPhone before bed pondering, “Gee, I wonder what James is up to?” just give me a call J I’ll be here!
See you in June, friends!
*www.thehungerjames.com – Subscribe to it and follow me on Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter!
