Deactivating Facebook

Last week I deactivated my Facebook profile.

A few months ago I went an entire month without Facebook. Since the beginning of March, I have logged into Facebook no more than a couple dozen times. Most of that time was spent making pithy updates and contacting a couple of people in anticipation of my trip up the West coast.

A couple of people wondered why I would go to the trouble of deactivating my profile, especially that in recent times I wasn’t contributing much beyond links to my blog. Primarily, I found Facebook to be of low value regardless of how much effort I put in to it. But I have other, deeper reasons for taking a more drastic Facebook hiatus.

• I feel the need to consume less online content in general. This year I made it a focus to limit the amount of extraneous personal development content to read. It’s possible I have to do the same with social media content. I was surprised how much time Facebook was taking up on the weekends and in the mornings. A month off showed me how to regain that time. The first week in March showed me how easy it is to get back into the same pattern I was in prior to February. Fortunately I recognized what was happening after the first day or two of March. I enjoy my involvement in social media with Twitter, so Facebook felt like a good place to start cutting back online.
• I realized after February that Facebook takes up mental and emotional space regardless if it’s actively or passively used. I felt a little guilty for not making contributions on Facebook, but when I did I eventually succumbed to the site for hours at a time watching the stream and trying to follow up with all of my friends. It’s possible that I have a cyber-addictive personality and that merely restricting my time simply doesn’t work; I have to dispose of the proverbial cookie jar to avoid eating more cookies (or in this case, waste time on the Internet).
• I feel the need to contribute more content in a way that expresses me. I started a blog to express ideas and a worldview that I believe in. I feel that I would rather spend the time contributing to others via the blog than on Facebook, as I have the possibility of unlimited reach on the Internet versus a few hundred of my closest friends. I also take full ownership of the content and the method of presentation on the blog. To me, Facebook feels like being in a cubicle farm on the Internet, except I’m not getting paid to contribute (not that I would ask for money via social media, but you get the point).
• I cannot agree with Facebook’s rules and its implementation, especially in matters of privacy. We all know how painful it is to update the privacy settings every time they change so that they don’t share personal data or that our likeness is used in advertisements for products that we would never use or remotely endorse. I don’t recall any recent changes, but I do recall at one point they were considering sharing address data so that third-party applications can send physical mail. Even when I was a passive user of Facebook, I never received (many) e-mails about changes to the Terms of Service – I would generally have to log in or hear from friends that the TOS changed.
• I prefer private conversations over ones initiated over social media. Being at the World Domination Summit made me realize this much more than ever. I admit that I’m not an extravert, but I feel a much richer experience talking to someone over the phone or meeting them in person. Facebook and other social sites are good for maintaining relationships, but nothing beats sharing a hug or coffee to forge new ones. Facebook was starting to be much less of a priority relative to answering e-mail, the phone, and even blog comments (yes, I’m committing to answering blog comments).

As I have only deactivated the account, I still have the opportunity to come back to Facebook at a time of my own choosing. I’ll keep the profile deactivated for at least three months and probably closer to six months. However, I have an account on a dating site that has been deactivated for years now, so who knows how long this will last. As always, you can use Twitter, LinkedIn, e-mail, or the phone. My contact information is here.

The next three to six months without Facebook will be a challenge in my online presence and how I approach the game of life. I look forward to seeing how life evolves from this choice and how the experiment unfolds.

image credit: fbouly