I’m thinking of getting rid of Facebook.
There, I’ve said it. Now let’s see how long it takes for Mark Zuckerburg’s storm troopers to amass outside of my house. Just kidding. Sort of.
I’ve noticed lately that nearly every time I log onto Facebook, I either get enraged or convinced that western civilization is going to, in fact, implode at any moment. Which might be true, and which makes me shudder in disgust, realizing that my last moments on this earth might be spent staring at the status updates of people I hardly know, rather than staring at the beautiful faces of people I love.
That said, I’m a blogger. I don’t think it would be practical to get rid of Facebook altogether. So, I’m just getting rid of some people on Facebook.
One of the big problems with Facebook is that people think they’re entitled to be your friend. They’re not.
Last week I went through and removed maybe about 10-15 people who I didn’t actually know all that well, but whom I had shared a class in grad school or college with.
One of them, who happens to be, a pro-choice, pro-contraception “Catholic”, then sent me a message saying how dare I remove her as a friend just because we don’t agree, etc.
What.the.hell?
Listen crazy, I removed you because we had one class together in grad school and I hardly know you. Yes, the fact that you’re a cafeteria Catholic makes my head want to explode, and no, I don’t want to see your ranting against the Church you claim to be a member of popping up on my wall every day. Sorry? You are not entitled to be my friend on Facebook.
Here’s the thing. If I don’t actually know you that well, and every other thing you post is about how awful the Catholic Church is, I’m un-friending you, because I’m not friends with people who trash-talk my Mother.
I’m not saying you should stop saying what you want, what I’m saying is, I’m going to unfriend you because we’re not friends. So if we haven’t spoken in years, never knew each other that well to start with, have nothing in common now, and the only time you write on my wall is to criticize my beliefs, don’t take it personally if I remove you. We’re not really friends.
What’s really ironic about the whole Facebook thing is that most of the people I love on Facebook are people I’ve never “met”. They’re other bloggers and moms that I want to be friends with. I wish they lived in my town so I could hang out with them.
So there you go. A Facebook purge. It’s been a long time coming.
Now I’m going to publish this on Facebook.
I just recently made the decision to get off Fbook completely. I’m not sure if I’ll get back on, but I felt like I was wasting my time on a daily basis scrolling endlessly through things that weren’t important at all. Now, I try hard to spend that time in prayer. I too felt that some of the deepest “friendships” on there were people I hadn’t met (you, Elizabeth), and so far, that’s the only thing I miss. xo!
Pleeeeeeease don’t give up Facebook! You always have such witty statuses and great articles and I love keep “in touch” with you! That being said, I totally get the purge of people. With my pregnancy hormones there are multiple times I want to roundhouse kick my computer screen because people straight up piss me off, especially with the HHS mandate and the Komen thing. I’ve thought about getting rid of these people…. and you’ve given me inspiration to put my big girl panties on and just do it!
How timely – Greg just completely deleted his facebook account this weekend and went around chanting “Free at Last!” He even dubbed it “Facebook Liberation Day” on the calendar!
But like you, I don’t actually want to get rid of facebook. I love to see what my real friends are doing, as well as my blog friends! The only way I’ve been able to take such a long break from blogging is because I am still checking on you all via facebook! My solution is to limit my wall to people that are actually friends – acquaintances can see my info and nothing else. That way no one gets their feelings hurt by being unfriended (although I did do a big purge a couple years ago) but they aren’t actually a part of my facebook experience. And if anyone posts something that makes me upset (or I just don’t care about) I change the settings so I don’t see any of their updates.
All that said, I still think the world is ending every time I log on. So I’m definitely fasting from facebook for Lent!
I’m glad to see that I can still “see” your post and everything – even though I struggle to agree with everything the Church teaches some of the posts and articles you and few other Catholic bloggers I’m “friends” with have really opened my eyes over the last couple of years.
This is perfect! Well said!
Oh please, girl. I have “friends” who work for Planned Parenthood. That’s what I’m talking about. If you’ll recall, I used to be the opposite of everything I am now. haha.
Great approach!
I definitely hear what you’re saying. Facebook is always frustrating and discouraging for me, and I’m mostly not much more than a lurker on there. Sigh.
I wish we lived in the same town!
Oye! Agreed. Most of the time, I think that FB has had its hayday, and it’s time to get off…but then, I have a huge Catholic family who I rarely get to see…and I love “liking” their statuses.
Ha! That having been said, a friend of a friend just posted an article on the correlation between wealth and atheism. Goodness.
I just did the same thing recently – it felt oh so good! (And was a great way to not lose all of my friends who I only know through the interwebs without having to put myself on blood pressure medicine every time I got online.)
I love it: people aren’t entitled to be your FB friend.
I have so many friends on FB whose updates I just scroll right past on my wall. I don’t know why I don’t just delete them, or at least hide them. I am so worried that someone will take it personally, although they’ll probably never even realise it, since I post so infrequently!
Jamie committed facebook suicide a couple of weeks ago, and as far as I know, hasn’t missed it at all. I’m giving it up for Lent, and I’m pretty excited, because I have noticed a similar reaction every time I log on. After Easter, it may be time for a purge of my own…
I have never been on Facebook. I might do it when I am retired. I just think it would take too much time. I’m glad you have young people to give you feedback on the issue of getting rid of Facebook.
I have relatively few fb friends. I don’t want to be everyone’s friend on there! Then there are those that I’ve unsubscribed to all their comments and updates. I don’t necessarily want to unfriend them, but neither do I want to see everything they have going on. It all about managing fb, rather than fb managing you. Purge on!