Eliminating Facebook

I hate to admit it, but I'm addicted to Facebook. It's bad. I check it every morning, multiple times a day on my phone, and right before I go to bed. It's horrible. It's shameful. It's not rewarding. I'm quitting.

We had a conversation in my Child Anthropology course yesterday about the damaging affects the internet has on our us and our children. It literally acts as an addiction. We get excited about a notification, new friend requests and messages. We start to crave it and so we sit behind our computers everyday and have virtual conversations about whatever instead of initiating face-to-face in our actual lives with actual people. Human beings are social creatures, yet social media is driving us away from fulfilling satisfying, normal social needs and instead allowing us to believe that a computer screen is going to provide that for us. It isn't.

So, for lent I'm giving up Facebook. I've deactivated my account until after Easter (maybe even longer, who knows?). I know that without it, I won't know exactly whats going on in my 600+ "friends" list. And I'm completely okay with that. I don't need to know about the relationship status of a kid I met once at a college party. I do know I will be much more productive, and much more engaged in the lives of my close, true friends. I also know that it will be a challenge... that I'm up to.

So see ya later, FB. I'll try not to miss ya,
Kaitlin