A month ago I did something crazy. I left Facebook.
Now to be honest, I'm not entirely sure who will read this blog as in the past my readers were all my Facebook friends. So welcome reader! You are either my mother who checks my blog relatively regularly despite my poor dedication levels or you are some stranger who has happened across this post by accident on some virtual adventure.
This isolation is, I suppose, one of the downsides of being deactivated as a social media presence. How will I hear about all the parties now? Who will invite me to hen dos or theatre performances? From where will my liberal political views gain their evidence? How will I find out what my friends' lives hold?
The only answer I can hope for here is: real life.
This will take a little more effort on my part. At the moment I am happily living in a bubble of semi-ignorance but of course that cannot continue. With isolation comes ossification and I did not leave Facebook to become out of touch. It may sound counter-intuitive but I left Facebook to feel more involved, more connected, more engaged.
What I hope for is that without the easy option of browsing my friends' walls, I will be more likely to pick up the phone (which I have always been very awkward about using....ummmm.....), or better, arrange to meet. We can have the joy of giving news in person instead of being met with "oh yes, I saw that on Facebook." I can hear the good and the bad: stories about holidays instead of just the perfectly posed pictures; worries that never make it to that not-real world because they don't require a 'like' but a cup of tea and a hug; spur of the moment jokes; debates about the minutiae of life however profound or silly they might be.
I also hope I will read the news, watch documentaries, look with my own eyes and form my own opinions instead of relying what Facebook gives me: carefully selected guardian articles, petitions, armchair activism that means nothing. Yes those sources are valid and I often share the leanings I see on my wall but I don't feel truly equipped to be sure of my opinion that way.
I've been gone for a month now and I'm sure very few people have noticed that I am. But I have noticed that instead of scanning my news feed when I'm on the bus, I observe the world I am passing through. Instead of wasting time clinking on all those silly articles about what child stars are doing now, I am reading a book or playing the ukulele or colouring or...
However!! I can hardly get on my high horse about this. I am still on Instagram. I do waste a little time every few days scanning through the National Geographic posts or getting holiday envy for the travel bloggers. Nobody's perfect and I like the pretty pictures, OK?!
But I do feel so good for claiming some of my life back. I have freed myself from online so that I have time...to blog. Ha!
Now to be honest, I'm not entirely sure who will read this blog as in the past my readers were all my Facebook friends. So welcome reader! You are either my mother who checks my blog relatively regularly despite my poor dedication levels or you are some stranger who has happened across this post by accident on some virtual adventure.
This isolation is, I suppose, one of the downsides of being deactivated as a social media presence. How will I hear about all the parties now? Who will invite me to hen dos or theatre performances? From where will my liberal political views gain their evidence? How will I find out what my friends' lives hold?
The only answer I can hope for here is: real life.
This will take a little more effort on my part. At the moment I am happily living in a bubble of semi-ignorance but of course that cannot continue. With isolation comes ossification and I did not leave Facebook to become out of touch. It may sound counter-intuitive but I left Facebook to feel more involved, more connected, more engaged.
What I hope for is that without the easy option of browsing my friends' walls, I will be more likely to pick up the phone (which I have always been very awkward about using....ummmm.....), or better, arrange to meet. We can have the joy of giving news in person instead of being met with "oh yes, I saw that on Facebook." I can hear the good and the bad: stories about holidays instead of just the perfectly posed pictures; worries that never make it to that not-real world because they don't require a 'like' but a cup of tea and a hug; spur of the moment jokes; debates about the minutiae of life however profound or silly they might be.
I also hope I will read the news, watch documentaries, look with my own eyes and form my own opinions instead of relying what Facebook gives me: carefully selected guardian articles, petitions, armchair activism that means nothing. Yes those sources are valid and I often share the leanings I see on my wall but I don't feel truly equipped to be sure of my opinion that way.
I've been gone for a month now and I'm sure very few people have noticed that I am. But I have noticed that instead of scanning my news feed when I'm on the bus, I observe the world I am passing through. Instead of wasting time clinking on all those silly articles about what child stars are doing now, I am reading a book or playing the ukulele or colouring or...
However!! I can hardly get on my high horse about this. I am still on Instagram. I do waste a little time every few days scanning through the National Geographic posts or getting holiday envy for the travel bloggers. Nobody's perfect and I like the pretty pictures, OK?!
But I do feel so good for claiming some of my life back. I have freed myself from online so that I have time...to blog. Ha!
