Becoming a semi-digital social networking dropout

Currently my relationship with Facebook can be filed under the it's complicated category.

Even I, a prolific status updater and Facebook addict, reached the breaking point and decided it was time to leave. I deactivated my account on the weekend. However, I am addicted and going cold turkey didn't exactly work out.

Social networking is a double edged sword. I find myself wasting time, browsing through the news feed, checking up on "friends" that I've not talked to since catching up more than two years ago and posting witty, but mundane status updates. Who really cares that I've just finished the first of many loads of laundry and the laundry cycle never seems to end? or making meatloaf for dinner?

I realize people use Facebook as a medium to connect with friends and family. Email? As if! Writing emails is a dying art. People post messages on friend's walls, sends them virtual gifts, comment on photos or send messages through Facebook. Who has time for email these days?

Lately, I'd find myself checking Facebook up to 15 times a day. While I wasn't on it for very long, I'd take the time to login in, browse the news feed, update my status if I wanted and log out. And then check it 15 minutes later. Oh, I've tried to curb my Facebook usage, but it doesn't work.

I've been thinking of leaving Facebook for the last three weeks. It has come clear over the last month or two I need to start living life in real-time, not on Facebook. I'm not alone. I came across this article on the Globe and Mail about how people are ditching the social networking site and becoming digital dropouts. On Saturday afternoon, I deactivated my account. Immediately, I started to have second thoughts. One of the reasons I stay on Facebook is to post photos of darling daughter. Dear husband's family lives on the other side of the country. Unfortunately, due to the distance, they will likely only see her grow up through photos. And I will only see my nephews and nieces grow up through photos as well.

One could argue that I could have created a Flickr account to share my photos with family and friends. But really, who is going to check it? As one friend pointed out to me, it is just one more site to check. Since everyone in my life is on Facebook, it didn't make sense to leave completely.

Facebook doesn't make it easy for users to leave its site. Deactivating my account means that my Facebook friends don't have access to my profile. Every status update, comment and photo still exists as I can reactivate my account at any time by signing in. So really, all I've done is logged out. I am looking into how I can completely delete my previous account.

So I made a compromise. I created a new account under a new name that is strictly for family so they can have access to photos of darling daughter. While I've always had somewhat strict privacy settings, I've buckled down and tightened the privacy controls on my new account. Yesterday, I noticed I was checking Facebook several times during the day, wanting to know what people were up to through their statuses. I realize that the news feed fuels my addiction so I took the extreme measure of hiding everyone profile from my news feed. Honestly, I do care what people are up to, but there is no point of having a new Facebook account if I'm going to fall into my old Facebook-addicting behaviour. If there are no status updates, then there is no reason for me to be constantly checking my account throughout the day.

I've also set out some guidelines for myself which include curbing updating my status. Unless I've got something meaningful to say or share, (and making meatloaf for dinner doesn't count) then my family won't be seeing any status updates. My virtual self will attempt to live out a quiet and simple existence on Facebook.

I miss my old Facebook friends. I really do. I miss reading their status updates, browsing through their photos and laughing at their comments and posts. But I need to curb my addiction. And if becoming a semi-digital social networking dropout is what I need to do, then I'll do it. If you need to reach me, reach me through email. It is a dying art that I hope to get reacquainted with again.