social networks: why i stopped facebooking

I stopped connecting to Facebook (the only social networking account I had) last year.  I don't remember exactly when but it feels like it was ages ago.

At first, I questioned whether I would 'survive' not seeing updates from my family (who live on another continent) and friends.  It was fun to browse through their photos but this activity would usually last hours.  During these hours, there is so much that can be accomplished.  And, I have lots on my to-do list that I would postpone when facebooking: reading books, studying, spending time outdoors, improving my baking skills, blogging and more...

But the most important part of my life I neglected was living it.  I mean being present in real life and disconnected from the virtual world.  I began to realize that I wasn't living my life fully and was speaking less often with my close family members because it was comfortable to do nothing and just browse through Facebook profiles.  Plus, I was giving less attention to my husband, who suffered from it. 

  

When I made the decision to deactivate my account I was beginning to feel disgusted with facebooking.  The reasons:

• Some family members and "friends" were only connected to me to look at my life on facebook but never said a word to me
• A friend made a negative comment to me because I liked too many photos of another friend
• Anything you put on Facebook is no longer yours but their property (so they can do whatever they want with your info)
• People who are not friends and don't plan on being would ask to be "friends".  I ask myself why?  (maybe to add to their collection of 1000s of "friends")
• Facebook became a chore with all these updates to catch up on, profile picture changes to remain fresh, comments to make, friend requests to ignore, etc...
• I was watching for hours photos of people living their lives instead of living mine!!!

I was in the middle of a cleaning phase: getting rid of unnecessary items in my home, wardrobe, etc.  Then I thought why not do the same in my social life.  So, I deactivated my Facebook account.

The people who are really connected to me have my phone number and email address.  If they want to know how I am they will call or email me.  This is the phrase I repeated to myself the first week of my Facebook detox.  I don't miss it at all and when I think about whether I would go back I feel weight on my shoulders.  It's stressful!  So, no thank you!

I feel lighter, spend more quality time interacting with my husband, talk a lot more often with my close family members, go outside more often to explore the natural world around me...Basically, I am living in the present moment and breathing.