I don’t know if you’ve ever done it, contemplated it or know someone who’s done it – but we did it. For a whole month, July 18 – Aug 17 we deactivated our facebook account. Actually, its quite a great feature. Facebook will keep everything on your account, but people won’t be able to find you. Then, if you ever sign in again the whole thing springs back to life. And if you want to delete your whole facebook, you can do that too but its a whole different function. (*if you ever do try this, please read the fine print)
How did it turn out?
Well, I noticed that I didn’t know what was going on with a lot of people. It seems that I’ve become somewhat dependant on facebook to notify me of important happenings in peoples lives (of course there are the trivialities too, but to some extent, the important experiences are often directly connected to the little things – don’t “they matter too”)?
I also couldn’t find out something about someone or grab a recent picture. Maybe not so common, but I realize that I lean on facebook for up to date glimpses into peoples lives. Not just on their happenings, but things like haircuts and kids growing older (ooh, it makes me sound and feel old to write that)!
On a positive note, I have accomplished a lot of other things though. My time on the computer came down a full notch and I also noticed a notch up in productivity too. Maybe that says something about my ability to discipline my time on facebook. Maybe it’s not so bad to “see” that I might need to put some formal boundaries up too. More importantly, I did spend more time with my kids and doing the things I enjoy. 2 points for this one!
There you have it. And I would definitely give this experience a full two thumbs up – you gotta try it! (even just for a week). And yet, after all that, I find that in today’s world, I can’t just not connect with people. So if that’s where so many of my friends are, then that’s also where you’ll find me, just maybe not quite as much.
Teaching Adventures 