Deactivated Facebook

Today I did something I thought I'd never do - I deactivated my Facebook account. My attempts to simply cut down my use of it weren't working, and I think with my sort of addictive personality cold turkey is the only way - at least at present.

I can't believe all the angst I've suffered through FB, mainly due to my paranoia about upsetting people (as a quick glance at my "Social Media - Aargh" thread of a few months back will tell you lol!) I was on it from first thing in the morning until last thing at night, and when I wasn't on it, I was thinking about it! I now realise I'm probably not capable of using it responsibly, at least for the time being. I got about 4 hours sleep last night & I suspect that it was at least in part due to still being on the 'Net at midnight! :-/

I've let the "important" people on FB know I'm going (e.g. my family & a few "real life" friends). I didn't want anyone to worry if I suddenly disappeared! But there are loads of ways to keep in touch with people!

I'm not quitting the Internet - for a disabled person such as myself it's a life-line (especially for shopping!) I shall carry on doing my online Egyptology courses with the Uni of Exeter (which I love!) I'm keeping Twitter, as I don't find it as addicting as FB, and have downloaded a few games to play on my PC for those times I'm stuck in the house & can't get out of the bathroom lol!

I shall be interested to see how I feel over the next few weeks or so - wish me luck!

Wow - that's a big decision LDD !

It sounds like this is going to make a great improvement in your quality of life ( and quality of sleep ! ) .

Smart move ...I think it will do you a lot of good in the long run .

Thanks NSR! I guess it might seem a little sudden, but as you know I had been finding FB a strain for a while now. I've only had one "OMG! Are you OK?" message so far!

A couple of things were like the straw which broke the camel's back, so to speak - I had a message at 11.30 pm from one of the admins of that group I had left, asking me for my opinion on a picture she wanted to share with the group in the morning! Even though I was no longer an admin.

I will see how it goes, but if I do return to FB it will be in a much more limited way than before - I was a member of over 100 groups lol - however did I think I was going to cope with that?!

That's a lot of Facebook groups ....

What are you doing with yourself these days ? I hope you're feeling well and making progress towards your surgery date .

I think you made a brilliant decision to back off of the Internet for a while . I'll be you felt the reduction in stress as soon as you deactivated !

Funny how something that starts off as a fun thing to do can quickly come to feel like an obligation if we don't maintain healthy limits .

Thanks so much, NSR! I haven't backed off the Internet as a whole, just FB! I don't really miss it (yet), but I think I will miss such things as photos of my baby nephew, who I don't see that often, so if/when I go back, I will use FB purely as a means of keeping up with people I know & resist joining 100's of groups!

I'm still on Twitter, although that's been a bit of a rough place lately. I've been dumped by 2 friends on there, which is upsetting - these are 2 ladies who I've chatted to nearly every day since my husband passed away. I was in the habit of exchanging good night messages with one lady for 4 years, and now she's gone - poof, just like that. I think she was suffering from social media fatigue, which I can quite understand, but still, it's upsetting after so long! I can imagine it might have been draining for her, though. I know how she feels!

The other lady has taken against me for some reason but won't tell me why! Sheesh! But I do have other friends on there, one of whom I have met in person & she's lovely!

I'm not too bad at the moment, though still spending far too long in my extremely boring & chilly bathroom!

Sorry to hear about the two ladies . Maybe they just both need a break too .

It sounds like you are taking it in stride though , and not letting it upset you to the point of stressing out over it . Your overall reduction plan sounds great .

Oooo...I know about cold and boring bathrooms ! Definitely not my favorite room of the house .

I'll be heading out on vacation at the end of this week , so I may be on and off the forum at odd times . I'll definitely pop in here and see how you're doing .

Be well !

Thanks, NSR - you're very kind. I was out this evening, at my church Fellowship group - at least I wasn't online lol!

I do feel a bit sad about the two ladies, as I miss them & wonder what I did wrong, but I'm trying to be philosophical about it - I know first-hand how crazy-making heavy social media use can be, so I don't blame them for backing off from it.

I've had really mixed emotions about FB today - I keep thinking about it, and feel sad sometimes that I've let it go - it almost feels like a bereavement (bonkers, I know) - but I still feel that I did the right thing.

I hope you have a great vacation!

Thanks ! I'm looking forward to the time off .

I'm running around like crazy , tying up work loose ends before I go .

As for your ladies , it may not be anything you did wrong . You could always give it a week or two , then drop a line like " Thinking of you , hope you're well ..." . If they don't respond , let them go . Your real life friendships are so much more valuable ( and lasting ) .

Now I'm off to pack !

Thanks NSR! I feel a bit cross with myself - I reactivated FB after dreaming about it last night - but I didn't stay there. I deleted half the groups I'm, just leaving the educational ones, and then hopped out again. I just don't want to get sucked in again! I do feel like it's lost a fair bit of the hold it had over me.

One thing I did notice - in my absence, a guy whom I had a bit of an "Internet crush" on has unfriended me! Ouch! His prerogative & I know I shouldn't care but - ouch! But I realise that he wasn't "real", not to me, anyway.

I have real mixed emotions - part of me feels almost like I'm grieving something, but the other part of me knows I did the right thing!

I hope you're having a great time away & come back refreshed!

I am a facebook addict. I am probably on a thousand groups...don't really feel like counting lol. Can't help it I am interested in a lot of things no one in my town cares about. Recently. i got in some groups on mental illness and they are helpful. I do feel like i spend to much time on it. I have this one friend who constantly messages me and I feel like i got to drop what i am doing and chat. I have pondered like giving myself an hour on face book. I know i need exercise, sleep and cleaning my house. hmmm chores first? Kind of sounds like what a mom would do. guess, i will be my own mom lol