On Facebook and Cell Phones

Photo Credit

I deactivated my facebook about two months ago. I had a little over 600 friends and, surprisingly, I knew every one of them. I also am using my phone less. I still keep in touch with friends, but I'd rather do it in a phone call or meet up. Texting is so impersonal. I still have my twitter, which I like because I feel like I'm talking to a wall. And I like my instagram because I can see outfits and food ideas.

But how do I keep in touch with people!? There was life before Facebook. Just like there was life before cell phones. Sometimes I wonder how people functioned before cell phones. But it was so simple. You're going out, you tell your parents, call via pay phone when you get there saying you're ok.  In my case I had to get dropped off because I was young. If I needed a ride home they would call my friends house or I'd call them and they'd come get me. The end.

These days, if I don't pick up my phone my mom gets worried and thinks something's wrong. We're just so used to being able to contact people at our disposal. It makes us impatient and go crazy inside. When we had to meet up with someone back in the day, we'd mention the place and time. Wait 15 minutes and be ok. Now, I {and I am guessing many people out there} can not wait 5 minutes without sending a text saying, "I'm here." or "Where are you?"

I think know this is where cell phones have made me lazy. If I'm running late I can shoot someone a text and take my time, because they KNOW I'm running late. If I couldn't tell a person that before I met them I'd sure as heck do whatever it takes to be on time!

My close friends are not on Facebook or are extremely inactive. But they have as much fun in their lives as people on facebook appear to have. I do, too! I take photos of my food and trips I have taken. I Just don't put them up for everyone to see. If I would like to share things, I share it with my friends and family who I'd want to see anyways, most of whom are not on facebook. Or who I'd contact through, phone, text or email anyways.

I have to admit, although I was not active on Facebook I still went on multiple times per day hour to see if anyone posted anything new. When I deactivated it it was a habit to get on my laptop and go straight to facebook, even though that was not what I was going on my laptop in the first place. It took about a week to get out of that habit. And I didn't have major withdrawals. I think it was easier for me because I was blessed with many friends and family who don't care for updating their timelines.

This applies to social media as a whole. But it isn't limited to only social media, either. Anything that will consume all of your time like fire consumes dry wood will obviously not be good for you. The key is balance. I am not a good at that, so it's more damaging that I continue to use it, rather than deactivate it altogether.

Photo Credit

Since I've made these minor changes, I don't use my laptop as often. I don't feel "busy" all the time, or that I have so much to do I don't know how I'm going to do it. Those few minutes on facebook and social networking sites at a time really add up and one can easily waste hours every day. In fact, I feel as though I have a lot of extra time on my hands. I feel like I enjoy things more now that I'm not thinking of "putting it up on Facebook".

Photo Cred

PS - These are my two cents. I am not condemning or looking down on anyone who uses facebook, as I do know it is a great, easy and quick way to share and keep in touch with important people in your life. It's so useful for quickly spreading news and information about events and businesses. I am merely stating how it was a waste in my life as the important people in my life were not on it, or inactive. Anything can be used positively or negatively, and in my case, it was just a waste of time.