So, I've decided to give up social media for all of 2013.
Did your jaw hit the floor? Did you laugh out loud? I mean, it's true, we are talking about me here. I've been on Facebook since 2004-- the year it was started. I'm generation Facebook, right? So why would I want to give it all up?
Lots of reasons, all of them good. As much as my online relationships have strengthened via constant connection, for every 1 strong relationship via social media, I have another 25 that act as something to check, something to judge, something to compare myself to, someone to be annoyed with. I think there's a lot of people that I would think better of, if I didn't give myself the constant choice to view their lives and formulate opinions-- which over time I've done again and again (no willpower here)-- and usually over something dumb like grammar.
Then there's a lot of ingestion of media and people's opinions that either I don't agree with, and I can ignore, or there's ingestion of media that I do ignore, but I'm angry about it for the rest of the day.
And ultimately, I find it to be a huge waste of time. I'm the type that feels compelled to check on something-- no unread emails in my inbox, no Facebook notifications left unread, no @ replies on twitter left unnoticed, not even likes on my Instagram photos can go without being attended to. It's exhausting. And I do it over and over and over again even when nothing has changed. Instead of fun and lighthearted, I feel drained and malcontented. I put priority on a life online, while I leave parts of my life, my real life!-- parts I used to really like, such as goal setting and creativity, alone to wither and perish.
So I'm giving it up. I'm changing my passwords, giving them to my husband and deleting my apps by January 1. And I'll be gone for a whole year. I'll still have this blog, and you can still email me, text me, call me or video chat me-- all my info for that will still be on Facebook-- which I'm not deleting, just simplifying there, which is what I'm doing with all my accounts-- not deleted, just hibernating. Who knows-- maybe in a year's time ill have finished my book and ill be online to promote it!
If we don't connect via other methods in 2013, well, then I'm sad that we'll go a year apart. Have a great year.
Good luck!!
ReplyDeleteI really admire you, Jessica, for recognizing that you needed to make a change, and are really doing it. I think a lot of us are really good at seeing a need to change, but never following through.
ReplyDeleteI think this will be a great thing for you, and I hope it gives you enough time to finish your book so I can read it next year. Good luck.