(Pictures from the kids' Washington DC bike tour)
Today marks 15 days without Facebook. I will confess that I had reached "heavy user" status. It was time to step away. And now that I have reached the end of my self-imposed hiatus, I am wondering how to better use social media in general. So I thought perhaps my little blog here would be a good place to "think" through what I learned from this experience.
Firstly, I must say it was not a social media fast, just Facebook. I continued to post pictures on Instagram because I have found a nifty little app called Chatbooks that will turn my photos into a darling little paper book and I no longer have to worry about how to get them out of my computer! They automatically send me a book every 60 or so pictures. And it is $8 a book, cheaper than printing prints, finding an album or scrapbook! Also, I continued to use Twitter as it is so boring that I only check for weather and local news. I only have one friend who post there, and I love hearing from you if you are reading this!
What did I learn? Here is where I will switch to bullet points! I love bullet points!
- I am not really addicted to FB. I did not pine for FB. After the first couple days, I did not think about it except when an occasional email came about a birthday or picture notification. This made me hugely happy. I was worried that I was becoming dependent.
- FB really does add both good and bad to my life and I need to figure out how to eliminate the bad and keep the good. For example, I did not miss the DRAMA, the political mud slinging, the bad news. I actually did not know that Mohammed Ali had died and I did not know about the FL shooting. My husband told me of both situations and can I tell you how wonderful it was to learn of these things from him and not a newsfeed. (Not that I was a fan of Mohammed Ali.) The takeaway will be that I need to unfollow anyone who shares things on my newsfeed that I do not want to see. Unlike and unfollow will be my motto!!
- I need FB to keep up with certain family members, as it is their "thing." That is OK. It is not mine. I would totally quit FB, but for these dear people.
- The nicest thing I learned is that those who really matter to me, sought me out and we kept in contact through blogging, texts, emails, Twitter, Instagram. Thank you, dear friends! I love you, too.
- I found more time to read. I was in the bad habit of getting sucked into reading all those little FB posts, saving them to read later, instead of reading books. Gasp. I got a lot of reading done in the past two weeks.
Therefore, I am going to log into FB in a few minutes and get to work "unliking" and "unfollowing". I am not going to put the app back on page one of my phone. I buried it deep. I am not going to get notifications ringing for every little thing. I am taking control. If I find it is not going to work, then I may just ditch it.
Now, for Instagram and how I am using that nifty app, Chatbooks. I have my setting on private, so if you want to follow me (jennlyhoo), just ask. I will warn you, I post a couple pictures a day during the summer with all our activities that need to be preserved in a Chatbook!
OK, so all this makes me wonder, what are your thoughts about Facebook?
UPDATE: I logged on to FB and after a few moments got that feeling of "in your face" and just yuckiness. I asked myself,"Why am I here?" Really there is no reason to be there. It is all a giant time-suck!
UPDATE: I logged on to FB and after a few moments got that feeling of "in your face" and just yuckiness. I asked myself,"Why am I here?" Really there is no reason to be there. It is all a giant time-suck!
