On Quitting Facebook

This doesn't have much to do with anything at all, but I like this movie a lot so I guess it sort of works?

I like the Internet. I like the Internet a lot.

I grew up in AOL chatrooms and a succession of message boards. I'm an early adopter of many social networks (except Ello, heh). I have an opinion (quietly) on nearly every social network and it's one of the few things I feel I'm intelligent about. Most of what I know about anything, I learned on a screen.

I thought about this as I clicked the Deactivate button on Facebook last Friday. Where would I get my news? My friends' witty quips? The platform to share photos, interesting links and, albeit sometimes-selfishly, good stories?

The rest of the Internet - that's where.

Deactivating Facebook shouldn't be a big deal but, to my scorn, it is. I feel like connection is all my generation is about, but it was starting to feel so false and forced that, many evenings, I found myself cursing at Facebook instead of smiling.

It also feels wrong to place blame on a singular (though mammoth) social network. Others have left for their own reasons, but I'm deactivating because of my own personal frustration. I just figured I should write about it.

Facebook was starting to feel like an obligation and, as I hope you know, anything that starts to feel like a heavy obligation probably isn't worth it (friendships, relationships, fad diets). That said, I lacked the willpower to remove myself without something so "dramatic" as deactivation. 

And it was something I realized, painfully, after I literally shouted "fuck you" to my phone screen after looking at someone's profile. I'm sure we've all done the same thing, once or a hundred times.

For years now, I've been absorbing information and other peoples' lives instead of solely focusing and doing my own thing. Facebook wasn't taking all of my brain power (please don't think so little of me?) but it demanded a certain level of social engagement and interest that I just didn't have any more.

I think many people use social media, consciously or subconsciously, for gratification. We like checking our Twitter and Instagram feeds for notifications - a like here, a comment there - because it feels good. I'll admit that for those reasons, and because I generally like the communities better, I've kept Twitter and Instagram.

On another level, I want to challenge myself as a writer and content creator. I like writing on this blog and I like tweeting and I like taking photos. By removing myself from Facebook, which is really just a reaction-based network, I can challenge myself to be a bit more true to me and what my "personal brand" is.

God. I sound like I work in advertising more and more each day.