I reached my limit on social media last week. After reading several good articles that confirmed what my gut had been telling me, I did it. I deleted my personal Facebook page.
Why? A few things...
One, the pull on me to continually "check" on Facebook to make sure I wasn't missing something or someone became almost physically draining.
Two, I felt myself becoming de-sensitized to certain events like catastrophes, social issues, and even death. When I caught myself saying that someone died on Facebook, it really bothered me. No one died on Facebook. They died in real life with real family and friends left behind. And please, please don't think that I'm saying it's wrong to post on Facebook about a death, grieving someone's death, or remembering them because I am definitely not saying that.
All I am saying is that the flood of information can de-sensitize a person when you see a picture of a cute puppy... a picture of a good meal... a death... followed by a status update about what your second grade friend ate for breakfast.
And then again, maybe it's just me who feels that way.
Three, if I want to be honest, I spent way too much time staring at my stupid phone when I could have been talking to a real person face-to-face. I have stunted conversations with people because the things they were sharing with me, I had already seen Facebook and it wasn't news to me by the time they told me.
Four, Facebook enabled me to be lazy. It was easier to wish someone happy birthday on their wall or simply like a big accomplishment instead of picking up the phone or sending a personal card. It was also easy to have shallow relationships that never really went beyond a thumbs up icon. A little screen on my phone was becoming "reality" and relationships are really so much more that a like.
And five, there are always those people who you know in real life who you know are not perfect {neither am I!}, some who have even wronged you, who pretend. It's narcissism at its finest. Something along the lines of if I portray myself a certain way and people "like" me and my "status" then I truly must be that way and not the reality of someone who hurts other people, doesn't pay their child support by choice, etc... Those kinds of posts were slowly making me crazy and angry and that's never good.
So with a few clicks, I put all that behind me. I didn't know how I would really feel but it felt good; like a weight being lifted. And that is alarming to realize that being "social" was weighing me down.
Now, I may be a hypocrite for keeping my blog Facebook page but for now I'm going to keep it because I don't feel the pull like I did with my personal page. I like Instagram too, mainly because I can connect with all my quilting friends, so I'll keep it as well. And of course I'll keep blogging because none of these avenues seem to pull on me like my personal Facebook page did.
Julia Cameron is one of my favorite authors in regards to creativity and I recently saw this quote by her:
One of the best ways to court inspiration is to practice a little secrecy. Don't open up your art to any and all corners.
No matter what kind of hobbies... quilting, cooking, writing, etc that we have, we as humans are creative. And I tend to wonder if sharing anything and everything via social media is the way to go if we want to live a creative and inspired life. For me, seeing people's art in every "corner" of Facebook was less inspiring and more than a little stifling. How can I be creative and interesting if I am bogged down in Facebook's virtual "stream of consciousness"?
So for now, I'm turning it off in favor of freeing myself, my time and my energy and putting them towards more productive things like life.
And please know that I am only speaking for myself here. I'm certainly not judging anyone who loves Facebook because I know it's a great avenue for lots of people out there... just not me. :)