To be upfront and honest, I haven’t missed Facebook at all. In fact, I’ve enjoyed not logging in. I have seen an increase in the quality of my activities and increase in my free time. In a quick summary, here is a small list of weekly accomplishments:
I’ve been reading more, I’ve been exercising more and I wrote an e-mail to a good friend whom I probably wouldn’t have written to otherwise.
Although I really love writing (and especially writing letters), I think the biggest success on the list is the part about reading. Believe it or not, I think I forgot that I love to read! In my elementary and middle school years, I hated reading, mostly because I was horrible at reading comprehension. But in high school, I started getting it and since I’ve had the freedom to choose what to read, I have enjoyed it more as I’ve gotten older. If you’re interested in what I’ve been reading, I read a book about what a “green economy” would look like, and I also started reading “War of the Worlds” on my knock-off Kindle. I’m thinking about purchasing another (and different) book to read. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to throw something out there.
As in intermission between my personal discoveries, I want to share with all my two readers that if there is one thing I really hate about Facebook is the center on self. I understand that the older people who are using it are reconnecting with old friends. I’m perfectly alright with that and am completely for it. Have fun. But primarily, but not solely, the younger generations use Facebook as a tool for self-promotion, and ultimately, self-worship. With as much information as I can find out about any of my Facebook friends, I don’t think I have learned anything about them of value. Even if you post info for the world to see, I don’t feel the same about it, as if they told me personally. The interaction aspect of conversation and communication has been taken away. And honestly, I think we all know this, but keep doing it anyway. Why? Because it makes us feel like (a) God. With an account, we own a small little piece of the Internet where we control everything and everyone comes to see the pictures, our status, a chain letter, or our newest update on an app. We know we’re getting the attention, and that draws us to continue posting and logging on to see who has commented about it. What happened to the days of long phone calls, or visiting someone to look through their photo album? I much rather visit a friend, in person, to share all these things than to look at some pictures from an event that I wasn’t invited to. If not for Facebook distracting me, I wouldn’t even care or think about any of these things if it didn’t show up on my news feed. And you may be thinking right now, “If you’re so fed-up and angry with it, why don’t you quit?” Be careful, I just might. However, I do believe there are some good things about Facebook. I’ll write about them in Part 2.
The second thing I realized this week is that my creative and meaningful interactions with people have decreased. I used to have so many creative ideas about a lot of things that I do or involve myself with. These days, it doesn’t happen as much as I would like it. I feel dull. For example, when it came time to give presents, I used to put a lot of thought and meaning into my gifts. I see that same deterioration in my relationships as well. I’ve fallen into the self-worship trap that I have mentioned above. I want to be creative again and I want my precious little time on this Earth to be full of meaning, intent and joy, especially when it comes to my interactions with people.
Bottom Line: Most say that it’s easier to communicate with others through an online social network. I’ll agree to that; however, I think the quality of communication deteriorates greatly and that is what makes all the difference. When it comes to quantity verses quality, I’ll pick quality every time.
Also, before finishing this blog, I just want to make a disclaimer. In the spirit of “Another Loud Kovac,” I will rarely go back and edit my entries (several times) like I do at r2r. This is my place to write out my frustrations and let loose what’s on my mind. I’ve decided not to advertise or promote the blog, so if you want to stop coming here and reading, that’s fine with me. It will be interesting to see what I regret later – if anything.
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