Life Without Facebook, Part 2

Today marks the halfway point in Lent, meaning there are only three weeks and four days left until I can log into Facebook again. Surprisingly, I’m doing okay without Facebook in my life, but I think it’s because I’ve been supplementing with other social media outlets like Tumblr and Twitter. The thing is, I find myself participating in the same morning routine with Tumblr that I did with Facebook; alarm goes off, check any emails that may have come in overnight, then immediately look at Tumblr (or Twitter, but usually Tumblr). Afterward, I read the little book I got at church.

Part of the reason I gave up Facebook is because I noticed how much time I was spending there via the app on my phone or on the site itself. I decided not to give up all of social media because I wanted to still be active on Twitter. I use Twitter as a personal branding tool and a way to learn more about social media and health care since both are career interests of mine. I only follow a handful of people on Tumblr (about 15 or so), so I figured staying involved there wouldn’t be an issue. However, it has become clear to me that Tumblr has become my crutch, my way to find out what’s going on with people.

I’m definitely glad I decided to give up Facebook for Lent; in fact, I don’t really even miss it anymore. At the same time, I sort of feel like I’m cheating since I’ve been spending time on Tumblr. I know it’s not the same thing –Tumblr is a blogging site whereas Facebook is, well, Facebook –but it feels like I’m defeating the whole purpose of wanting stay away from Facebook in the first place.

While I knew before Lent that life can and will go on without Facebook, I’ve realized that I’ve placed a certain level of importance on social media and I want it to be a part of my life. Maybe my relationship (yes, relationship I think is an appropriate word) with Facebook was bordering on extreme but I enjoyed the way it made me feel connected to people. Isn’t that the point of a social network?

Life Without Facebook

I was totally against Facebook when it became available at Virginia Tech in 2005 (I think that was the year); I thought it was stupid, creepy and I wanted no part of it. Of course, curiosity and peer pressure got the best of me and I reluctantly signed up. In the beginning it wasn’t all that exciting to me, but as Facebook became available at other schools, I became more interested. I started finding people from my childhood I had lost touch with due to my family moving from New Jersey to Virginia and was able to connect with people I had met while attending East Carolina University.

Fast forward six years later and some might call me an addict. I have the Facebook app on my phone and checking people’s status updates is one of the first things I do when I wake up in the morning. When there is a lull in my workload at the office, I’m using Facebook on my phone to see what other people are up to. Someone got engaged? Definitely have to check out Facebook to see if there are pictures of the ring. Someone broke up? Had a baby? Experienced some other life event that interests me? I’m on Facebook checking it out. Wow, writing this all out really does make me out to be an addict, doesn’t it?

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, I’ve decided to give up Facebook for Lent. Forty days and 40 nights with no access to other people’s lives, photos, etc. I’ve removed the app from the main screen of my phone (but not from my phone altogether because it was preloaded on my Android and thus, unremovable –kinda creepy right?), and no longer have a tab open on my home computer’s browser dedicated to Facebook. Now I’m not the most religious person but since I’ll have a few extra minutes in the morning from not looking at Facebook, I’ve decided to read from a little book of prayers I picked up from church on Ash Wednesday. If I find I have some time at work during the day, I’ll fight the urge to look at Facebook by researching something else on the Internet, like stuff about Lent or the Bible (or cars or potential vacation spots).

So far, and it’s only been about a day and a half, I’ve done okay. However, it was really hard last night while watching the Hokies beat Georgia Tech, not to get on my computer and see what people were up to, a usual habit of mine during the evenings. I wonder if I’ll get to the point Brad has reached, giving up Facebook completely and deactivating my account, calling Facebook a social disease. I guess I will find out in 30-something plus days!