Maybe you, too, love Facebook or other forms of social media and don’t know how you could live without them. For me, it was a matter of eliminating it completely so I wouldn’t be tempted to fall back into the trap of constantly logging in to see if I had any little red notifications waiting for me. I wasn’t self-disciplined enough to have Facebook and access it only occasionally. I’ve also gotten more involved in two loves of mine: blogging and writing. Now that I no longer have Facebook, I’ve expanded my devotion time, exploring the cross-referencing footnotes in my study Bible, and I’ve made more time for scripture memory. I’d been doing daily devotions, but at times it was more going through the motions then actually delving into and exploring the Word. I realized there were goals I wanted to accomplish and activities I wanted to engage in outside of the virtual realm. It required nothing of me to open it up and spend 30 minutes watching pointless videos or scrolling through posts I wasn’t interested in. The mindlessness of Facebook astounds me. We’ve lost sight of what it means to be genuine on social media. There is also the issue of trying to convince one another we live flawless lives. Who wants to post an unattractive video or picture of himself? Or allude to the fact there might be something negative in her life? But we’re only contributing to society’s standards of beauty when we try to project a perfect image. Personally, I have found my face-to-face encounters with people to be far more real and fulfilling than my online interactions. But the trouble comes when we put up a façade and make a show of trying to convince all our other friends we have this special connection with someone who really is only an acquaintance. I don’t think this is all bad - especially if you’re actually getting to know someone in real life and not just through social media. I’d follow people online, admiring their lives and liking their posts when I didn’t know them well. Yet I sometimes found myself falling into the same trap, though not to the same extent. To me, this was a strange phenomenon and one I didn’t wish to be party to. They wouldn’t have much to say face-to-face, but they seemed to have plenty to say behind the protection of a computer screen. I’m not talking about faraway friends I would rarely see I’m talking about people I would see daily. A few of them would contact me and like my posts, but they wouldn’t talk to me in real life. People I knew added me on Facebook, and I added them back. I wanted to rest in what and where the Lord had me, and constant exposure to posts on Facebook deterred me from this goal.
But I wanted to change my mindset and experience life where I was, instead of imagining life where I wasn’t. I’d always struggled with change and embracing the season I’m in. I was removed from college, but I was still exposed to the pictures and posts of the friends I had left behind and everything that was going on in their lives without me. This destructive cycle began every time I typed in my Facebook password.įacebook became especially problematic when I graduated a semester early and moved back home to begin my job search. After absorbing too much content of what I thought my life should look like, discontentment and restlessness abounded. My unfulfilled expectations backfired as I compared my life to those of my friends. Then there was the issue of comparison and jealousy. I was tired of letting these mundane decisions rule my time and mind. I also played the never-ending guessing game of wondering whether to like someone’s posts, and wondering what people would think if I did or didn’t. But the feelings of rejection cut deep when someone who I hoped would like my posts didn’t. Comparison and Discontentmentĭon’t get me wrong - I liked the self-assurance that came when I got a lot of likes. Have you thought about saying good-bye to Facebook? Or other social media platforms? Here’s my top three reasons for giving Facebook the boot, along with a few tips that might be helpful if you also decide to quit social media. But it’s also been refreshing to get some perspective and see that I can face the dreaded fear of missing out (FOMO) while still remaining sane. I’m a social person, so the withdrawal has been challenging at times. I’ve now been Facebook-free for over six months. While I wasn’t obsessed with it, I did eventually realize I was spending more time on it than I probably should, and that there were other, more constructive ways I could spend my time. We all love our social media - Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter.
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