I can relate to this myself. Facebook is like a drug, an addiction for me. Up until about a month ago, I was spending a lot of time on FB (over 10 hours a week on average) and I, like the author, have been on Facebook for just over 10 years. That adds up to about 5,200 hours; time that could have been spent doing something else. Last year alone, I liked over 40,000 posts in an attempt to provide indirect validation for my friends and family. My boyfriend would get angry with me because I would always be on FB on my phone and not contributing to our conversations. I even found myself feeling depressed and anxious as I scrolled through my feed due to the sheer amount of political posts that have been dominating Facebook for the past year and a half or so. It was seriously affecting my mental health and I knew I had to do something about it.

Starting at the beginning of Feb, I have worked hard not to go on Facebook at all. As of today, 2/23, I’ve only been on once and it was because I was researching something for an interview. It hasn’t been easy to go cold turkey, but I am finding myself looking to other things to occupy my time like Medium, reading books, spending quality time with my boyfriend, and the like.

Do I miss it? Yes sometimes, especially when I need advice or when my sister posts videos and photos of my nephews. Do I miss the endless hours on my phone and mindless likes? No. Not at all.