Disconnecting from the social network

Last week, Facebook announced it hit the 500 million user mark, meaning one in 14 people world-wide use the social networking site.

I didn’t read this piece of news on Facebook. Instead, I read it on a newspaper website. For more than six weeks, I've been living a Facebook-free life. Other than dear husband and a close childhood friend, I don’t know many Facebook-free people. But we are out there. And as an ex-Facebooker, I feel free.

Three months ago, I blogged about making a Facebook compromise. I closed down my big Facebook account in favour of creating a much smaller account for family and friends. But the old Facebook addiction beast soon reared its ugly digital head. I had to block everyone from my news feed so I wouldn’t be addicted to my news feed anymore. But after a month I started wondering what was the point of having a smaller account? I was still checking my account frequently to see if people commented on my status, sent me a message, commented on my photos or my posts. I was addicted to the instant gratification of the comments of my friends. Things hadn’t changed, despite having a smaller account.

Seven weeks ago today, I announced to all my friends and family I was leaving Facebook once and for all and they could reach me by good ol’ telephone or email. Four days later I shut down my accounts. It was easier than I thought it would be. It only took three days before I was fully enjoying a Facebook-free life.

Like I’ve said before, Facebook doesn’t it make it easy to leave. You have to submit a request to Facebook to permanently delete your account, and which takes two weeks to process. In my case it was two accounts. Ironically, I had to reactivate my old account to ask Facebook to delete it.

Leaving Facebook isn't for everyone. At first, I wondered if I could do it as I had invested three years living my life, in part, on Facebook. But after I hit the delete button, I've been loving my new Facebook-free life. Life seems simpler. No status to update. No photos to post. No items to comment on. I had forgotten what life was like before Facebook. And I like it.