Life beyond Facebook
It’s the start of a new year, I’m beginning a new job in a new town and I’m going offline. Goodbye Facebook.
That was six weeks ago now and I’m still alive.
I started using Facebook in 2006 and before that, MySpace, so checking social media has been a daily ritual of mine for well over ten years. A habit that was all too evident (to me at least). It would be the first thing I did each day and the last before going to bed with a couple of checks during the day for good measure.
The diagnosis
I never considered myself a heavy user, certainly not from a teenager’s perspective, but I was always aware that I was essentially ‘wasting’ time. I could have been spending this time doing something productive or creative. Sure I could have just used it less but I never truly felt like it because, well… Facebook is life.
So I decided that I would mark this latest change in my life with yet another change by giving up the little blue book. I didn’t delete my account, I just deactivated it and told myself I was switching off for a while just to see what it was like.
The other side
What’s it like? Pretty uneventful actually. I anticipated I would feel some form of withdrawal going cold turkey and perhaps feel a little left out in my social circles. I can’t say I’ve felt either. Perhaps it’s got a bit to do with how busy I’ve been so far this year but I’m genuinely surprised how easy it has been to say goodbye to a decade long habit.
I’m yet to feel like I have reclaimed all of this spare time that I now spend on bettering myself but there have been other positives that I didn’t consider before deciding to switch off.
The surprise
I look forward to seeing my friends more and enjoy talking with them! Because I haven’t seen pictures or read about all the things they have been up to it’s actually a surprise hearing about it for the first time instead of going “Yeah, I saw that on Facebook”.
I’m less cynical too. It’s easy to think the worst of people when you judge them solely on their online presence. Now that I’m not exposed to the often cringeworthy fabrication that people portray online, I’m able to see them more for who they actually are.
The end?
Despite these points I’m not writing this to preach about deleting social media. I still haven’t deleted my account and might not any time soon. But if you are like I was and are considering it (and I’m guessing you are if you are still reading this) give it a try. You won’t become an outcast, your friends won’t disown you and if they do they aren’t really a friend anyway.
While my experience is going to be different to the next person and this is by no means a scientific study, all of the fears I had about logging out have been unfounded and that was a nice surprise. I still have Twitter and Messenger accounts but I use these as tools when I need to rather than having to check them every day.
Only time will tell if this new adventure back into the real world becomes a long-term commitment or whether I come crawling back, though so far things are looking pretty good outside.
