Six weeks ago I was preparing for a transition in my work schedule: a contract was drawing to a close and I was about to have a calendar with more “white space” (see my last blog post for what this means!). I knew I needed a strategy to make this transition work in my favor so I took a good look at how I was spending my time and what I wanted for the days ahead.
I came to a surprising realization: I had become a Facebook junkie. What I claimed was “relationship management” was really voyeurism. I logged onto Facebook every morning while drinking coffee and clicked on my friends’ pages and posts until the coffee was gone or I had to stop to get ready for a client call. Some days, I would keep Facebook open and check back in between calls, meals, any break between activities. I knew that I had to get this under control before my first week post-contract started.
So I quit. Cold turkey. Shut down my own page, my business fan page, and my cycling page after deleting all content, pictures, videos. Sure, the timing of my panicked withdrawal aligned with the privacy concerns about Facebook hitting the media. And a friend had a phishing virus on her Facebook page that annoyed me with its constant updates about products. But I quit Facebook because I needed to make a different choice about how I used my time and I knew I wouldn’t be successful “managing” it.
It’s been six weeks. I miss seeing what some of my friends are up to, especially the ones I don’t see that often. I miss sharing photos and videos that I create and then having my friends comment on them. I have given myself permission to create a new page and start over, but I don’t really know if I want to. I use LinkedIn for my professional connections and just can’t tell if Facebook is really worth my time anymore.
What am I missing? I am curious to know what you think.
December 13, 2010 at 7:14 am
I must be a Facebook junkie too !!! First thing I do in the morning is see if I have any new posts or e-mails in Facebook. Then I leave it open, just in case one of my friends or family want to say hello.
The thing that bothers me the most about Facebook is that you see your friends online and you want to chat with them and say hello. There are certain people you can do that with and know that it’s welcome. Then there are others that you do it with and you feel as though your invading their privacy…..hard to know what to do so with the exception of one or two friends I’ve learned to just sit back and browse.
90% of the time, I sit at my computer table working on my lap top with both of my computers on. So I have 3 screens going. One to work on, one to watch tutorials and one to have Facebook open in case someone wants to chat
YUP ~ I’m addicted…..
December 14, 2010 at 8:13 am
@Kari, Thank you for sharing your experience with me! I think this “diet” is like dealing with a “trigger food” and keeping my weight where I want it: I had to eliminate cheese and crackers from the grocery list and now I buy them rarely. They were too hard to manage in controlled portions. So I am still “off Facebook” and will re-evaluate in 2011 what I want to do about that.
Being self employed and working from home makes the social media even more tempting – I felt validated when someone would comment on my posts. How does it impact you?
December 15, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Hi Page – I thought I would add my 2¢. When I first launched my Facebook page and started digging around elsewhere in Facebook, I quickly got into trouble too, following and responding to threads and discovering hour after hour disappearing before I knew what was happening. I had to quit spending time there because it was affecting my well-being. Now I keep my page going for the sake of folks back in the Seattle area that chat once in a while (I moved to Indianapolis after layoffs at Tetra Tech).
Otherwise, these days I’m starting to crave a slower pace and a break from social media, preferring the “old-fashioned” way of communicating – cellphone and face-to-face!
December 15, 2010 at 7:36 pm
@Denise, I am so glad to hear from you and that this topic resonated with you. I will likely start Facebooking anew in January with better discipline, but I am still not sure. And I didn’t know you moved! So I am glad to know that and won’t keep looking around corners for you in Bellevue.