The End of Facebook

Hello, my name is Heather Wilson, and I have a problem. I am an addict. I am addicted to Facebook.

The rumors are true, I am quitting Facebook, and many have been asking why. There are several reasons, one in particular I will not discuss, but I felt like I wanted to talk a little bit about it.

As always, I love lists....

-I spend far too much time on Facebook, even while at work, diminishing my valuable hours of daylight that could and should be spent doing worthwhile things. I have so many essential, necessary and recreational things that I need and can do, that wasting quality hours in my day under the employment and slavery of Facebook seemed ludicrous.

-I realized through a conversation with a friend of mine the other day that while Twitter is all about narcissism, Facebook is all about being nosey into other people's business AND narcissism. I have 275 friends on FB and how huge is my ego to think that they would all want to keep up with my life enough to check out my photos, read my statuses, or peruse the novel that was my Info page? And truly, how nosey am I to think that I have all these friends, most of which I haven't spoken to in years, just so that I can go onto their page and Facebook stalk them? It's ridiculous how I have bought into the narcissistic and intrusive allure that is Facebook. P.S. I'm not now, nor will I ever be on Twitter either.

-I found that I was able, and OTHER people were able, to say things over Facebook that would not normally be said in front of other people. I was able to be as sarcastic as I wanted to be, but also be somewhat truthful in not so nice ways. Don't get me wrong, I was also able to be super sweet to people and say things that I would normally blush to say to that person to their face. There is good and bad to all things. I just feel like this is one of the reasons that I need to be done.

-Also, in my quest to find happiness and fulfillment and balance in life, I realized that going onto Facebook and reading up on everyone else's lives was not helping in that. Some people's lives had me feeling covetous of the life they had. Some had me feeling so overwhelming sad for them and for the lives they were choosing to lead. Some, made me feel like I was so inferior because I simply could not be and do all that they were and did. Facebook rarely bolstered my spirits and encouraged me to be all that I can be or to be happy.

-I had begun to think of things in terms of "this would make a great Facebook status!" or "Take this picture of me so that I can use it as a Facebook profile picture!" Does that not seem hilarious and so sad at the same time?

So, I need to be done. And like I mentioned before, there are many other reasons, but those were the main ones that I felt I could reveal. I have been a member of Facebook for 3 years now and to lose that instant go-to will be like losing a friend in a way.

I have very much enjoyed conversations that I've had with people I've found through Facebook. I have found friends through Facebook that I hadn't been able to find for years. Like a kid who had been one of my very best friends in junior high and then he moved to a different district for high school. Or the kid who I'd gone to school with all the way through until graduation and now lives in Romania. Or the girls who didn't ever go to school with me, but through mutual friends, I've grown to love and appreciate having them as part of my life. Or even those family members who I don't get to see very often at all, but I love them and miss them all the time. I truly hope that somehow we can all find a different way to keep in touch. Honestly I do. I don't want to lose people through this effort at regaining some privacy for myself and others. But, it's something that needs to be done and I feel good about.

I know that the people who have truly wanted me as part of their lives will continue to do so, even if it means finding a different avenue for it. And I know that I will have to make more of an effort to email, text and call people who are important to me. But, that is what I am willing to do. And like I said, I feel good about my decision.

So, I'm signing off. I'm Heather Wilson, and I'm no longer addicted to Facebook.