Deleting Facebook

Wait, what does that say?

If you're on this blog you've probably seen that I am getting rid of Facebook. It's happening on Friday, just two short days away, and I can't wait.

Don't get me wrong, I think there are going to be some challenges. For one, people won't be randomly messaging me because something was posted on my wall. I won't be remembering things about people that I met that one time at the bar and saw again on campus later, such as birthdays. Such a shame.

Granted, fewer people will remember my birthday and I can no longer post some witty comment about the latest pop-culture silliness. But, then again, I rarely do anyway.

No, the greatest challenge I see is that I no longer have that time killer. I no longer have that thing to hop on and see what other people are up to. I no longer have that little piece of me that sits online and no longer need to take good photos for my profile picture. Any new updates will be outside my lingo and knowledge.

But, on the same note, those are all the things I'm most excited about as well. No longer will I be on the internet to check out random pages of people I never talk to anymore. I foresee one of two things happening, or maybe a bit of both. One, I will no longer be on the internet that much and be able to focus on some creative efforts or enjoying nature or reading. Or two, I will be on the internet, but researching things that I need to research, no longer concerned with finding something to post so that people will comment on my wall. My status, is no longer important.

I think I am going to find this experience to be quite liberating. I no longer need to worry what people are saying in their status. I no longer need to worry if some cryptic comment is a backhanded comment towards me. I no longer need to worry what my employers or future employers see. I no longer need to sensor my images and my beliefs and my interests so that it doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

I feel that Facebook has been a ball and chain for a while. It was fun when it was simple and just a few college buddies meeting up. It was fun when you could post a few photos and watch a few videos and share inside jokes with people for hours. But, now, for me, it has become a burden. A life I have to maintain outside my life that is already spinning. It has become another place for advertisers to bombard me with more pleas to buy, buy, buy.

I know it won't be easy and I'll lose several friends and I won't be invited to many events and I may even have more difficulty maintaining contact with some good people, but I gave advanced warning and did my best to find the contact information to people that I need. From here on out, people will need to call me, text me, or e-mail me, and if you don't have any of those, then we will wait for fate to bring us together. In which case we'll have something to talk about, because we haven't been caught up on Facebook. Think of this as a conversation starter. I know I will.

I'm excited to be free.