Let's begin at the beginning shall we? The central reason for joining Facebook in the first place for myself is so that I could view the offspring of a sweet niece. She has four biological children and one step son. All those children create mountains of photos waiting to be viewed. While I love seeing just how many frames it takes to comb out a tangled mass of curls on one pretty little head or the various adorable sleeping positions of other adorable offspring - I just have to wonder, is this enough to keep my voyeur muscles in shape? I flex them now and then with other 'friends' and their mega sized friends list of people, that I actually do know, but don't care enough about them to add them to my own friends list.
I read the comments of daily lives that are , well let's face it - incredibly mundane. These folks need to tell the world, when they are waking up, showing us a foot draped over the edge of a perfectly clipped lawn and the tell tale cup of java, steaming on the little table beside them. Yes - they are special. Just ask them.
The folks who only live vicariously through others, I have to admit, I have hidden their nonsensical dribble in my news feed. It feels a bit cruel to unfriend them. Some of them actually do notice that they no longer can view your page. However, I believe strongly that if you haven't commented or nudged or poked anyone in say over 8 months, it is perfectly within reason to remove them quietly from your overburdened friends list. I get a very satisfying feeling when my friends list goes down. Unlike many others, who brag or post that they are just one friend away from a magic number. Unbelievable is all I can think of at that point.
I do admit that I am utterly guilty of posting nonsense. However I have had the good sense to delete it, when what it contains makes me shudder with, a thought of 'I sure hope no reads this'. When in doubt, cross it out is a good motto for public forums.
Even in this little blog - read - occasionally by only 2 devoted people. It helps to get this out there, in print to perhaps clarify what is truly churning within the walls of my mind.
I did take a mini vacation from Facebook. It lasted all of 7 days. I was a mess. How sad. What is going on in little miss sunshine's world? What new photo will they post today? You know they always post something precious. Then there are others, who I dare not unfriend, that spew an entire encyclopedia's worth of reposting. That is what truly irks me. Profanity is promptly dealt with. A simple - delete is all it takes to remove that smudge from my spotless news feed.
The more I think about it, I truly can say that Facebook is a time bandit. I prefer to read or do research on Ancestry.com , or sew, or draw, or bake or even garden, when the weather is not so hot that a small child is in danger of sunstroke from five minutes in the summer heat. You see I have significantly more reasons to not be on Facebook and yet I can't seem to pull myself away from it. I'd much rather write a daily blog to myself and no one else than scan through pages and pages of respostings, looking for actual news of friends, who couldn't care less, about the goings on in my ordinary life. I do not mean to insinuate that my facebook friends and family are unfeeling or shallow. However, if the only contact I ever have with these folks who so happily chirp about my latest photo uploads or find a particular quote I posted meaningful. If this is the only contact, nothing else - no personal exchange of addresses, phone numbers, personal email addresses, then are they truly worth keeping on board, just because I consider myself a nice person? Perhaps a bit more soul searching is needed here to come to a proper conclusion.
Facebook is addictive and I need a 5 step plan to get over it, I think.
