Ditching Facebook

(Image grabbed from the internet.)

A few months ago, I proudly declared on this blog that I am not ever quitting Facebook (see that post on this link), and even offered my own take leaning on the positive things fb does to contribute to the debate that has surrounded fb. But, all of a sudden, I deactivated my account yesterday, just like that. My husband dropped me the challenge the night before the day I said my interim goodbye to fb – to deactivate my account for a month. A challenge? I asked. Why, it's a piece of cake! Of course I could. I'm not quitting in the first place, just hibernating for a month. The hubby deactivated his account and challenged me to follow suit. He was showing me a couple of articles that made him decide to ditch fb. I didn’t bother looking, dismissing that I knew them already -- generation Y, me-generation, fb envy, flirting with the ex on fb, all that stuff putting fb in a bad light.

I love fb! So I choose not to analyze its bad side. I've not fallen into the negative trappings netizens and critics have had to say about fb. I don't feel sad or wanting more in my life from browsing and prying into my friends' lives, their milestones, their travels, their thoughts and opinions. Well, yeah, you could say I dream more of traveling to London to visit the Queen so to speak (haha), to take a selfie at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, to be windswept in Batanes, to explore Palawan’s underground river, to check out why Dubai is said to be one of the safest cities. Beautiful pictures and stories posted on fb on these romantic, scenic, and historical places in my bucket list make me happy and a tad sad in the same instance. Oh, yes, I’m happy to see my friends have gone and enjoyed these places, and sad I couldn’t plan my travels because of many practical constraints. I wouldn’t say I feel envious. I am not. I have no right to be.

To prove that my life doesn't revolve around social media, I bid adieu to fb. Admittedly, the accumulated time I used to spend a day on fb was more than the time I talked to my children. And so it's been with me for some time now, this feeling of guilt over fb addiction. When I was still working, I had little time to check and linger on fb, but I would regularly check – usually on the commute to and from the office – for  updates from friends, like the posts that I truly like, and drop comments once in a while. Since I've been out of work (intentionally, see related post here) for six months now, I've found myself always taking my phone wherever I went, my thumbs clicking on the iconic fb button, going up and down, clicking the like button, more and more. What's more pathetic? Yeah, I realized I've been that way with fb the past months. I would check more often after I had just posted a picture, an album, a status update, or my random, inconsequential thoughts, or a link to my blog or my son's blog. I would be excited to see the number of likes, who the likes came from, and the comments. And I would be doing this even in the bathroom! Pathetic, right? Exactly. That’s why I badly need a breather.

Here’s the upside. This is my second day without fb, and I have accomplished much. I cleaned the floor using an electric polisher and rearranged the living area, and I got to write this! See? I’m ok, better in fact.

But here’s the thing why the break-up has been easy so far. I still have my Instagram account, and, of course, this blog! And so I have not totally ditched social media. My IG account is “garrettgabee,” in case you would like to know what I am up to these days. I have very limited following on IG so it’s really not the same as fb. Instagram eases the bouts of boredom and KSP moments in my daily grind as a stay-at-home-mom.

See you at IG then! J