I have struggled with maintaining my Facebook account for several months, largely because I felt like I was wasting too much time on there. Earlier this year, I went through and limited my number of friends to my closest friends from high school, closest friends from college, local friends, and my family members. In other words, I limited Facebook to the people with whom I regularly communicate. I wanted to do this so that I could limit the amount of content in my news feed, too. If I had less friends, then I would have less content to see. Although this helped me limit some time that I spent on Facebook, I still felt like it wasn't enough. I deleted the Facebook app from my phone about two months ago, but I still found myself often checking Facebook via my phone's internet browser.
So, I'm just going to be done. There are a lot of other things that I want to do with my time, and I'm increasingly disenchanted with the experiences that I have had on Facebook. Although I enjoy having brief updates from friends and seeing photos of my friends and family, I feel like those rewarding posts usually are about one in twenty or thirty of the posts and links that come into my feed. So, if I check Facebook multiple times a day and only have a few friends, then I rarely have something worthwhile to see or read. Instead, I feel like a good portion of my time has gone down the drain.
I have noticed that my attention span has changed in the past several years due to my internet usage, and I don't like it. If I ever am involved in something difficult or boring when on my computer, I often jump over to Facebook or another website for a quick distraction. But these distractions add up in terms of time, and I feel like I'm less productive overall. Although I realize that the internet will continue to have an important role in my life (after all, I am writing on a blog right now!), I do think that I need to take more control over the time that I spend online. I want to be more of a deep, meditative thinker, not a wired and distracted person.
Hopefully this change will help me to enjoy life a bit more. I'd rather live my life, then spend time observing the lives of others without genuinely and meaningfully interacting with them. I'd rather write more letters, write more emails, and make more phone calls to those people. Although I may get on Facebook again in the future, I think this is a welcome break.
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I've also struggled with the question about whether or not to stay on Facebook. At this point my school though, it would put me at a big disadvantage for me to not check Facebook at least every few days because so much important and extremely useful information is shared through my med school class' Facebook group. Maybe in a few years I can also feel that social media burden lifted!
I definitely feel like my attention span has changed over the years. I'm also much more likely to jump to fb or my email for a quick distraction when I should be focusing on something. I feel like it has affected my memory as well, which scares me. Perhaps I should read that book (or perhaps it would only confirm my suspicious and give me more anxiety!). I shall expect more emails from you now though. :)
I need to read this book. From our previous discussion and your post, I know it would give me a great deal to ponder.
Good job! I need to do something, too. I have definitely noticed the change in my attention span. We'll have to talk more about this when I see you.
I agree with facebook being a distraction and ruining attention span. I know I spend way too much time on it and, even when I'm not on it, my computer always has me logged in. I've also found myself going to it for a sense of comfort when I'm bored or sad. It's the worst.
When I was on my mission, I really enjoyed facebook work, but I remember having several conversations with other missionaries about how many people wasted their lives on there. I remember thinking then that people posted the stupidest things as status updates, complained a lot, bragged a lot, and other useless garbage. I remember thinking I'd never come home and do that and now I do. And, of course, it seems to be a tool to offend people so easily. What a shame.
Anyway, I've been catching up on your blog (instead of being on facebook) for the last several minutes and that's been fun. There's another thing facebook has killed: blogging. I really miss the whole blogging world as it was a few years ago.
I'm also crazy behind on emails, so I owe you one. It's coming friend. :)
props to you! i've contemplated doing this as well. unfortunately, it's the main way my family from the east coast keeps in touch...but i've consciously tried to use FB less and less. most posts are hardly important enough to use up our precious time!
Friend! I just saw this and feel a bit sad but I can see your point of view. I have had to exercise some discipline as well, but I also feel like FB gives me a social outlet that I need/want. When I worked in the RS presidency there were a lot of things that went on in our RS through FB and was a good way to keep tabs on the sisters. Now that we're in Germany I especially love to see pictures of the friends and family we left behind and keep in touch that way. At this point it's quicker and easier than blogging. However, I hope that we keep in touch through emails and phone calls-- as soon as we get into our new house and get our phone set up! There's also a finished basement with a private kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and living area. In short: when are you coming? :)
Wow... I know that FB and other forms of social media can rob us of our valuable time...but it actually changes our brain too? That's scary to think of. I have been feeling guilty about checking FB and Instagram way too often. Thanks for giving me some food for thought. I'm going to try to unplug a little myself...
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