Why I closed my Facebook account and maybe you should too

I've been blogging a lot more lately, and I have really enjoyed it. I'm determined to really make this blog a personal history and keep it updated instead of letting it fall by the wayside like I have time and time again in the past. But, despite my determination, there is another reason I have recently become more gung-ho about blogging:  I closed my Facebook account. 

The first and most obvious reason is that I was simply spending too much time on it. Ever since I got a smart phone last year my time on Facebook increased exponentially, and then it doubled after Luke was born. It became so bad that I would go to open my phone for an entirely different purpose, but out of habit would open the Facebook app first, only to get sucked in and forget all about the real reason I had opened my phone. I found myself becoming distracted more easily, even in everyday tasks and though some might argue otherwise, I attribute it to excessive Facebook use. Facebook has taught us to share our lives in real time, so we are constantly looking for the next update, the next post, the next comment; we go a million miles a minute and as a result all have the attention span of a goldfish. I wanted to slow down and focus a little more on important things, not on what so-and-so ate, or who is stuck in traffic, or another picture of that cat...

Second, and to me more important, I didn't like the person I was when on Facebook. I started to notice that I would feel frustrated, irritated, sad, even angry at times after spending time on my account. This was often because I had a tendency to get swept up in others' (or my own) controversial posts. We live in a difficult time where there are many opinions on what is right or wrong. I tend to be an opinionated person and often shared my feelings on everything from abortion to gay marriage to vaccines to feminism and Disney princesses. Not surprisingly, other people also voiced their opinions and I soon found myself in the middle of a heated debate. The problem is, Facebook really isn't a good forum for debate. You can't express yourself clearly without writing a page-long comment, and even then readers often don't get your tone or expression. Sometimes that adds to the contention that may already be felt over some of these topics. Too often I was becoming upset because someone didn't understand what I was trying to say, or took it out of context, or became offended when that wasn't my intention. Or I would become annoyed or angry at what other people were posting, forgetting that I too may have been misunderstanding what they were trying to say. The fact is, even if I knew I was right, Facebook wasn't the right place to say so. I can more fully explain and express my opinions here on my blog, or I can just do it the good old-fashioned way and talk to people in person about my beliefs. 

So why should you consider closing your Facebook account too? I have been surprised by the reaction I have received as I have told people that I no longer have Facebook. It's almost always, "Good for you! Maybe I should close mine..." Its clear that I'm not the only one who has spent too much time on my account, or even the only one who has found it to be a more negative than positive experience. You may have the same reasons as me, or reasons of your own, but I can definitely say that I have been a happier, more productive person since I took my account down. Maybe its something worth considering.

And, while I'm on the topic, check out this video that I love: