For the past few weeks, one of my Facebook friends has been trying to gather Facebook junkies/addicts/socialites to join a small group called No-Facebook February. As I perused my friends’ status updates, photos, and favorite links, I found myself annoyed at the prospect of taking that much time (twenty-eight days!) away from the social scene, well, the online social scene. Who would do that? Why should I consider it like she kept saying I should?
For goodness sakes, an old acquaintance from high school who I haven’t talked-to talked to in, oh, eight years is about to give birth any day now! How would I know when the baby was born? It’s not like she’d call me or something. How would I know, know, know about my 130 close (not-so close) friends’ most facebook-able activities? Certainly they all are waiting for my status updates about what I’m making for dinner, or how Adeline’s nap for the day went, and would miss then should they not arrive in their live news feed. Surely, I cannot disappoint.
Uh-oh.
There was that twinge. You can chalk it up to conscience, God, or the little angel sitting on your right shoulder, but you know that feeling. It happens when you pass by the Salvation Army bell-ringer when you have plenty of change to spare, or buy what you want instead of what you need, or lean in a little closer to hear, out of genuine concern of course, what Jane heard about Jill. It’s when you hear loud and clear, “Examine yourself!!” So I did.
Facebook shows me a lot of blessings and keeps people in my life that I wouldn’t have contact with in any other way, but do I really need to know what movie Long-Lost-Friend #14 saw Friday night, or peek through the pictures Old-Coworker posts of her niece? Whether it’s my reading time, homework time, mama-ing time, doting on my husband time, is this how I need to be spending it? Commenting on what other people are eating for lunch or giving advice on how to spur on contractions to someone I met once is not teaching my daughter to count to three or getting me any closer to being who I want to be.
So, at 11:58 PM on January 31st, I made a spur of the moment decision and signed off of Facebook for twenty-eight days. I haven’t ‘liked’ anything, added anyone, or updated my status for two days now. And though I know that I’ve missed some good discussions and moments that people very dear to me have shared, I’ve also been more productive and realized some of the irritation I feel at social networking. So far, two days in, No-Facebook February is feeling fine. But I must admit – I’m glad it’s not leap year.
No comments:
Post a Comment