It's easier than you think.

Quitting Facebook

I’ve left Facebook a few times out of frustration from the social networking monster. The changes in privacy, the double standards and sexism, and the soul-sucking nature of the beast were all prime reasons why, and every time I leave it gets easier to leave. The hard part, of course, is staying away. The three people I know who aren’t on Facebook are also the happiest I know, so I decided to give it another shot.

After quitting again this week—I’m thinking for good this time—I almost logged in out of habit the next day. The parts I miss—the the photos from my mom, the banter with my sisters—I can pretty much do via text now. I will miss my writing challenges and homeschool swaps, but the vast amounts of hatred, racism, violence against children and dramatics just made me sad. Like a lot of people, I was suffering from Facebook induced depression.

Okay, it’s been a rough year anyway and most of this stems from other sources, but I know that it was a major contribution—and two days later, I feel so much lighter. The house is clean, who knew? My work is behind, but that’s because I’ve been focusing on one large project above others and I need to work on balancing that out in the upcoming days.

Live a little. Go Facebook free. Find out what it’s like to live your life away from judgment, constant commentary and food photos. It’s rather nice, and with the fall weather moving in I’m enjoying it even more than I had imagined.

Photo courtesy of Wood Sprite. No Facebook time = more time to work on photography with Mom.