That Time I Took A Facebook Break

So right after Thanksgiving, I made the decision to take a break from Facebook.  There were far to many unsavory posts popping up on my newsfeed.  Every time there is a violent episode in the world that is broadcasted all over the news, my news feed reads like a who’s who of racist, conservative or liberal opinions.  The latter I am usually okay with, but lately there were so many “memes” and articles being posted on my feed that I would check with Snopes.com only to find it was false.  That meant, whether I agreed or not, people were just posting random things they read before checking to see if they were fact.  That is they way most of these horrible political wars between friends get started.

I decided to take a break from it all.  As a result:

• I have had more time to focus on my diet and exercise plans.  Of course it took me a week to even plan that, but baby steps people!
• I have gone to bed earlier and woken up feeling more refreshed.
• I have NOT caught up on my shows, simply because a lot of them deal with violence and I’m kind of over that at the moment, but as a result of THAT I go to bed even sooner.
• I am not feeling disgust for not so close family and friends after reading their uneducated posts about all things “Obama-hates-M’urica-and-I-Want-To-Show-You-How-I-Am-Right-With-This-Meme/Article-That-I-Didn’t-Fact-Check”.  That shit was starting to give me an ulcer.

In addition, I haven’t missed the vague-booking.  You know the kind.  Where your dramatic friend posts something like: “Oh my god!  I can’t believe that happened!”  Or: “I am sorry to everyone I disappointed.”  Or: “I hate everyone and everything.”  Or: “I will never love again.” Or: “My life ended today.”

Even just the soft vague-bookers, that say things like: “I’m so silly.”  “I can’t believe I did that!”  “OH MY!” “Oh no!” STOP BEGGING FOR PEOPLE TO ASK WHAT IS GOING ON!!  If you were indeed that interesting, they would have already asked.

Anyhoo, when I talked to my husband about being disgusted with Facebook, he let me in on a secret.  Did you know you can unfollow people and they are still on your friends list?  They will still be your friends on facebook, but their posts will no longer appear in your newsfeed!  And they will have no idea that you did this!  You can still check in on them and see how they are doing by clicking on them.   Many of you probably already know this, but this was huge news for me!  And yes, I know I could just delete them, but then it gets weird in social settings and I’m all about keeping the peace.

So tonight I did a little pruning.  Some deleting, some unfollowing.  Overall I think I am going to be much happier with Facebook.  And I do want to come back despite the positives I mentioned above.  Quite frankly, I miss seeing what my friends are up to and interacting with them.

It might take me a little while to put the app back on my phone however.  I kind of like not being distracted by all the notices, and just taking my FB in one lump some at the end of the day.

Also, if this entry offends you, please feel free to unfriend or unfollow me.  😀