I never liked Facebook. I really didn't want to join. I did it because my family is scattered and it was a way of keeping in touch. So I reluctantly joined, in part also because I thought people would consider me antiquated if I didn't. I didn't want people to think I was living under a rock.
I was young and misguided.
It was fun in the beginning. I would post pictures of my travels and updates, but this novelty quickly wore off. I would still post every now and then, and try to participate in the community, but the idea of Facebook soon became petty to me. All people did was go on Facebook. They would make cheesy posts that would flood your feed, telling you to share this or that to save a life or whatever the hell it was. Like your useless vote would do anything in the real world.
It was creating a bubble that was insulating them from the things that really mattered. Not to mention when it would propagate false or ignorant information.
Every aspect of their lives was being shared.
I stopped posting when I realized how stupid it all was. Being a private person, I kind of regretted having shared the little that I did, that I think now was actually too much. I suppose I just got caught up in the whole thing myself.
But I took a step back and looked at it all like an outsider looking in. Like an alien, who came to earth and learned about this thing called Facebook. That's what I always do when I see a lot of hype around something.
People were obssessed. Their lives was Facebook. When they first met you they asked you for your facebook, so that they could most certainly go on there and check you out. It made socializing easier, because the next time they saw you, they would already know everything you wanted them to know about you. It accelerated the process.
It made people lazy.
Facebook had morphed into a freak show that I no longer wanted to be a part of. I would have deleted my account long ago, but I needed Messenger to stay in touch with a handful of people. Mainly my mother, who still has an iPhone 4 and therefore can't download any other social media apps. Come to think of it, she is the only reason I still go on Messenger.
I should just delete my account and tell her to call me or email me, but that's not practical at all. I mean, you want to move forward, not backwards. So, I deactivated my account, which sends the same message: "I don't like this place, so I am no longer a part of it.".
My husband and I both deactivated our accounts, since he only joined because of me, and literally never used it. It felt good to finally leave that place. It was like maintaining a bad relationship out of convenience.
I still deal with Messenger, but I guess you can say I'm on a new social media diet. Now when people want to search for me on Facebook, they can't.
I can now finally say "I don't have Facebook".