Nearly six weeks has passed since I gave up Facebook. And it has been far more difficult than I would like to admit. The first week or so, I would catch myself opening up the Facebook app on my phone without thinking about it. It was that ingrained in my routine. I get a lot of status updates as text messages which I hadn’t thought to discontinue prior to saying adieu, so I have continued to hear “from” some of my friends. But it has been difficult not to reply. Especially to those “friend in need” updates. The ones where I would typically post something encouraging or a “been there” story. You know, friends in need of a positive word.
The hardest part has been not seeing the updates from my mom on what the girls are up to. She typically posts photos and videos of what the girls do during the day while I’m at work and I love getting to keep up with them when I’m away. It’s been weird to hear about what they’re up to third party. Like, co-workers coming into work and saying “I saw your girls jumping on the trampoline. They are so cute!” or “I loved that video of Evie and Elly!” when I haven’t seen the videos myself.
As much as I have missed Facebook at times, it has been so wonderful to be free of it. I spent a lot of time updating statuses and uploading photos and checking on what everyone else was up to. It’s been a big relief to not spend the time. But it’s been sad to not be able to talk to my friends. To not share my good days and bad days. To not share pictures of my sweet girls. To not know what my family and friends that I see only rarely are up to.
My respite from Facebook has been refreshing. I will have a much greater appreciation for the connections that I have through the social networking site when I start back up. Assuming of course that everyone hasn’t forgotten about me. But when I return I think I will continue to try to limit the time I invest. And if I log in and have 0 friends…I suppose that will be much easier!
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