Deactivating

Several weeks ago I deactivated my Facebook account. It isn't as though it spiraled into nothingness and can't ever return--- it can be reactivated at any time. However, I needed to step back, take a break, unplug.

I had begun to notice that whenever I finished up with a block of time on Facebook, I felt worse afterward than I did before logging on. Then there was the comment a family member had made several months prior, "I don't need to call as often because I can go to your Facebook and see pictures of the kids." Nice.

The question I have faced lately is whether or not it's healthy for me to use it. Some people have the ability to log onto Facebook once a day, or even once a week, and feel content. I would find myself logging on multiple times throughout the day, sometimes even throughout the hour, and feeling anything but contentment.

And then there is the issue of nosiness. I am a nosey person. I just am and probably always will be. The time that I spent scrolling through status updates fed the nosey monster inside. "When did they go on vacation? Wait a minute-- are they still together or separated? How many sports are their kids involved in?" It was ridiculous.

Then there were the vague, yet unhappy comments that Facebook friends would post "just sayin'" and then letting me know "rant over". It contributed to a feeling of yuck in my gut that wouldn't go away.

Approaching the one month mark of being Facebook free, I find that I miss feeling in the loop on things. I miss getting invites over Facebook-- seeing pictures of new babies, finding out what is going on in other people's lives. And yet, there are things that I don't miss too.

I'm not sure yet whether it will be a brief vacation from Facebook or a permanent departure, but at the moment, I am content to be clueless and out of the loop.