Facebook: Why I Left it & Why I'm Not Going Back

Way back when, in the fall of 2007, I grew up. I had graduated from high school, and was able to join the exclusive club called Facebook. [[Back then, you still needed a college email address to sign up for it.]] It was such a cool step up from Myspace. It was a really important milestone at the time for me and I felt so grown up!

Fast forward a few years.

Facebook starts letting anyone join as long as you are thirteen. [[But let's be honest...kids can lie about this kind of stuff..]] So really...anyone can join. That is when [[for me]] things started going downhill...

Now, I'm not going to be that person who complains that tweens ruin everything, because that simply isn't true. I'm also not going to be the person who complains that the site is no longer cool because one's parents and grandparents are now avid Facebook users. Because, honestly, I don't think that is true either. For me, the real problem with Facebook is caused by all users.

You heard me right. Everyone is guilty [[myself included.]]

I spent a lot of time on Facebook. I had the app on my phone, so I could read my news feed every minute of every day if I wanted to. [[and not gunna lie...I sometimes did.]] I also became that "Facebook stalker" who would go through friends of friends to find people from high school, just to see what ever became of them. You guys...this is not something that I'm proud of...I felt like such a creeper. I mean, really, I had not seen these people in ~4 years...why was I searching them out? You want the honest answer? To judge them. I knew that I could go to certain old friends' pages and see photos of them still partying it up at bars. And then I could sit there and say "Wow...I turned out so much better than you." Like I said...not my proudest moment...

There is such an air of negativity floating around the site. People complaining about every little thing in their lives. People bragging about every little thing in their lives. It was actually getting into my soul and affecting my attitude. My husband really started noticing the change in me...and let me tell you, he didn't like it.


Josh told me that he was concerned about my attitude towards people who I never even saw anymore. He noticed my increasing negativity in how I thought and spoke about them. I would see what they posted online and their bragging or complaining would, in my mind, replace any truths I previously knew about them. They could be the sweetest, most caring person I had ever met, and in my mind they would slowly be morphing into proud, uncaring, monsters.

I believe that God used Josh to wake me up. I deactivated my account some time at the beginning of the summer, and after the first week, I didn't even miss the drama. My mind was clear and for the first time in a long time, my attitude started to brighten. I could begin loving people for who I truly knew them to be, instead of disliking the person they projected in their status updates.

Every now and again, I consider signing back up, and even did for 30 seconds. I mean, Facebook was such a huge part of me getting word out about my blog and I even panic sometimes when I run out of ideas on how to promote my Etsy Shop. [[pardon the plug...]] But then I have to sit back and think...do I miss the drama and the negativity that comes along with having a few extra contacts? And I  have to say no. No I don't.

Print credit: Jessi @ Naptime Diaries

Tell me, do you have facebook? If not, why not? If so, do you experience the types of things I've spoken about here? I would love to hear your feedback, so please leave a comment below or send an email to:

jspencer2303@gmail.com