It really made a difference in my happiness, my mood, my time, and all around happiness. But I would still log onto a browser to check my Facebook on a daily basis. So, maybe I concentrated my time on Facebook in chunks, which was an improvement but I was still wasting time.
So this year after the winter I decided to delete Facebook (Sorry family members who like to stalk). I decided to do this for multiple reasons. The first reason was that I was tired of wasting time staring at my phone screen while I could maybe miss both my kids doing something new. As I sit here right now, I can't even believe that my son will be a Senior in high school next year and my daughter will be getting ready for her second year of pre-school. I already feel like I miss out on things working and being busy. The second is basically mental health.
As I sit here on an Amtrak train heading to a conference in Fredericksburg, I decided to finally blog about it, give my perspectives on the positives and negatives on not being on Facebook.
First and foremost, I learned really quick that everything is evolved around Facebook. Think about this..........how many apps or websites do you use to log in by using your Facebook account? How to you actually communicate with friends and family?
So let's get started.
The Negatives:
I write this in my most sincere tone. It is very difficult to get off Facebook and do anything online. The first thing I had to do was re-do most my log in information to websites and apps because they were mostly connected to Facebook.
The biggest and most annoying thing about not having Facebook is not getting event pop-ups from friends, local events, and local businesses. I really got comfortable having my Facebook events on my Google Calendar. Now, I have to use my wife as the transmitter of events from Facebook because everything including kids birthdays are done via Facebook.
The second most annoying thing is companies, including my favorite running companies (Come one J&A) and my favorite breweries not posting via other platforms or email. Also, having friends not communicating via phone or text instead of Facebook Messenger or iChat.
The last thing that is annoying is the few groups that I followed on Facebook (Christmas stuff, family camp) I can't get to or get updates. So I still have to use Facebook via my wife's to communicate.
Positives
On nights where I'm sitting down, drinking a beer, and watching Avery play or I'm at one of Tim's baseball games, I am not missing as much. Have you ever thought about how much time you actually stare at your phone screen? It has been very invigorating leaving my phone on the counter and just watching the world instead of having FOMO syndrome of who's doing what and where.
My mind isn't running 100 mph from FOMO, politics, crazy world and US news popping up in my head. How many times a day do you see something on Facebook and waste your time to read the article (dumb or not)? Or see a post and comment, debate with the other person and then realize you just wasted time? Sadly, we all do this. We all Facebook stalk. We all do these things that have naturally been ingrained in our technology memory for the past 15 years.
What Next?
The funny part is I remember a time about ten years ago, right after Facebook opened up to the public, everybody didn't know what it was. Then, the next thing you know, I got three out of my four grandparents (some of them with two accounts because they can't get into their old one) adding me on Facebook and commenting on every post, picture and share I did.
Then the world decided that because we have facebook, we don't need filters. People decided that they can say whatever they wanted to anyone and it didn't matter because they were hiding behind a computer screen. My rule of thumb is this: If you can't say it in person without getting your teeth knocked out, I recommend you not saying it.
The positive of all this is that I do see a future where kids now will watch their parents staring at their phones instead of them and not wanting to be like this. Instead, kids won't be using Facebook. I see them not wanting to be on their phones 247 like us.
The crazy part is smart phones, social media, and this type of technology is still very much in its infancy. Tech companies, businesses, and humans are still adapting to this technology. 120 years ago, people thought electric current was dangerous and we shouldn't have electricity run through cities. And look at us now.
So here is my recommendation: Turn off social media for the weekend, sit back, have a beer, and enjoy your family.
Also, Amtrak is a great way to travel.
