Life Without Facebook – Reflections

I haven’t been on Facebook for several months. I chose to deactivate my account. I deleted the Facebook app from my phone and from the laptop.

The main reason for deactivating my Facebook account was because I was frustrated with the political posts. I am not sure if anyone has ever changed their political views because they saw a post on Facebook. The thing that political posts do is to alienate and aggravate.

So, after several months of being Facebook free, here are some reflections.

What I miss about Facebook:

• Seeing posts of my friends. Facebook is a tremendous tool to help people stay in touch and be in the “know” with what friends and their families are up to. I miss “seeing” my friends on Facebook.
• It’s a fantastic tool to get a message out to a mass of people. Recently we had to cancel church services because of the snow. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. are fantastic tools to get the news out to people.
• I miss the jokes, yes – even the cat videos, and the inspiring quotes I used to read on my feed.

What I’ve gained from deactivating my Facebook account:

• Time. Mainly the time I used to spend mindlessly scrolling through the Facebook feed.
• No longer getting frustration and angry of the divisive and offensive political posts. I am purposeful and selective about what news I am reading because so much of what is happening in our country is so incredibly frustrating. Even though I could control what news I choose to read and see, it was aggravating to have political views thrust on my feed.

For the most part, I am perfectly happy with the decision to go Facebook free. The biggest draw back is no longer “seeing” my friends.

Will I ever go back? Maybe.

For now, I am content with Twitter and “seeing” my friends on Instagram.