I recently deactivated my Facebook.
I can hear the gasps … Why would I do such a thing?
Honestly, I don’t know. I just did. It felt right.
In the aftermath of this catastrophic event, I have learned a few things about Facebook and the work I do in the online arena.
mankind’s biggest fear is being “unfriended”: It is clear that people have absolutely no confidence in their real-life friendships anymore. Three days after deactivating my account I got a number of texts and e-mails (see, there ARE ways to communicate other than Facebook status updates) asking me if I unfriended them. Really? One of these people was one of my best friends and even she asked. My mind was blown! It amazes me how reliant we have become on Facebook to stay connected with people, let them know about events in our lives, invite them to parties, etc. It’s been nice to be off of Facebook for a bit, but I’ll admit, I still haven’t figured out what to do with all the extra time I have on my hands.
our work lives and personal lives are intertwined: I couldn’t just deactivate my account. Why? It’s not because I didn’t know how to. It’s because I am an admin on several Facebook pages for clients. The solution to this? Create another account just for work. This account is not searchable, and the only person I friended was … wait for it … myself. Yes. I had to friend myself in order to make myself an admin on my client pages. It never really dawned on me how connected my work and personal life was through Facebook. Facebook is a place where I stay connected with some of my best friends (and best strangers). Facebook is where I put pictures from my vacations, adventures with friends, family and more. Facebook is also a place where I put my content management skills to the test. Facebook is a place where I drunk stalk ex-boyfriends. Facebook is a place where I get paid to post. It’s amazing how Facebook has merged those two worlds together.
the “when I was your age” effect: I don’t know about you, but my parents and their friends still love to drop the line, “when I was your age…” That line is always followed by something that we now consider ridiculous like, “When I was your age we used to look things up in the actual encyclopedia,” or ”When I was your age we used to take notes on a pad of paper with a pencil,” and the ever so scary “When I was your age I used to call my friends and make plans with them if I wanted to catch up with them.” Yes, I know, that last one is really scary. People nowadays like to reminisce about the good ole days of Facebook. We say things like, “Remember when Facebook was only open to kids in college?” Yup. I do remember that. The minute I got into college and got my .edu e-mail address, I was on Facebook like white on rice. “Remember what Facebook photos used to look like?” and “Remember when Facebook timelines were different.” We have now begun to use Facebook policy changes and aesthetic updates as time markers in our lives.
I’ll let you know about how this experiment goed. Right now, I feel really enlightened. And what is one of the tangible results of my Facebook deactivation? I have created another blog and you’re reading it. Hope you enjoy.
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