a couple months ago, i decided to "deactivate" my account. this just means that i wasn't on facebook, but if i ever wanted to come back, all my information, friends, and pictures were saved. i decided to deactivate it because i knew facebook would cause me to procrastinate homework. i honestly got so much more done! i would come home from class and since facebook wasn't there to tempt me, i would get started right on homework. (i know, it sounds pitiful that i had to deactivate my account to get started on assignments earlier, but you facebook users know what i'm talking about! pull up word document, write your name, date and class, and then "check" facebook for about an hour and realize that you haven't even started your paper.) this sounds strange, but i felt like my body was cleansed of toxins or something! it was extremely refreshing! i loved it!
so why did i decide to "reactivate" my account two months later? it was stupid. i was mad about something and impulsive and bored all in the same night. so i reactivated it just for fun and immediately got sucked back into the world of facebook-stalking (which, if you think about it, is CREEPY, but who doesn't do it?), "friend" requests from friends of friends who i've never met, and conversations that should be had on the phone! well, i've had my account back for about three months and i've decided to delete it. for good.
why? why completely abolish my account and ability to "socialize" with friends? well, for about two weeks now, i've been having the feeling that i should get rid of it. i kept saying to my mom "i'm going to delete my facebook for good!" and she would say "really?" and i would say "......no." and shrug it off. yesterday, my mom's good friend was giving a lesson in young womens about the dangers of facebook, texting, and the media, so we snuck down there for a little bit to listen. perfect! it was awesome lesson and i had an overwhelming confirmation that i should delete my facebook. it sounds like a strange thing to have a prompting about such a trivial thing (or is it so trivial?), but i know the still small voice when i hear it (or feel it.) which is a relief to me, because i have such conflicting feelings about facebook.
on the positive side: it is a great way to connect with friends you haven't seen or talked to in a long time. it does let you talk to people who are outside of your circle of close friends. it lets you look at people's pictures and see what they're up to. it lets other people know what you're up to.
on the negative side: it's a faux-socializer. socializing is a lost art because of facebook! having 900 friends on facebook does not make you popular and does not make you social. elder bednar warned against socializing online because it hinders our ability to cultivate relationships in the real world. just like texting, when you're talking to someone on facebook, it's not as meaningful as it would be on the phone or in person because you can't hear their tone of voice or gage their emotions. it's a time waster. come on, i know that everyone who has facebook has spent unnecessary time on there and walked away with NOTHING accomplished. it's happened to me so many times. it's easy to say that you'll only spend ten minutes on there every day, but before you know it, an hour's gone by. and...as safe as facebook claims to be, there are a lot of predators out there who know how to use loopholes to get your information.
in my opinion, facebook doesn't bring out the best in me. i find myself looking at other people's profiles and walking away comparing myself to them. i wish i was as pretty as she is. wow, she has such a glamorous and fun life. why can't i look as good in my pictures? often times, it's discouraging. does it really make you feel good about yourself? does it help you progress? everything you do in life either helps you progress as a person or regress. i'm not as receptive to the spirit when i'm caught up in a socializing network that exposes me to provocative pictures and things of the world. simply put, i think facebook is of the world and it has desensitized me to such things. i have logged out of facebook before feeling yuckier and less pure than when i logged in.
and as far as i'm concerned, nobody had any trouble socializing before facebook! my social life was just as thriving then as it is now! it's not hard to get in contact with people without it!
i am in no way judging my friends on facebook. different things are hard for different people and just as a personal observation, i felt better when i wasn't on facebook. this is not meant to be critical of others, just to explain why i'm deleting it.
so don't try and reach me on facebook, i won't be there! :) call me or send me an email at rachael.claire@hotmail.com
here's a link to elder bednar's talk. it really puts technology into eternal perspective.
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