Life After Facebook

It's been a few days, and my facebook withdrawal is going OK. I'm still fighting the urge to turn it back on, to check on my over-600 "friends" to see what's new. Of those 600-plus friends, I'd say I really only kept up with about 20 regularly. The rest I largely ignored because fb didn't send their updates to my newsfeed, or, I didn't go to each of their pages to see what was new. It got unmanageable.

So, what have I been doing instead of fb'ing? Well, I've been working, hanging out with Henry and Peter, and baking, and writing about it here, and baking some more. I have been working later nights, and making dinner when I get home, and finding myself with time that would have previously been lost to facebook. It's been very nice getting that time back. Still, the compulsion is there to just go check to see what's new. It's a hard habit to break, that's for sure, but much easier now that I've deactivated my account.

So, WHY did I leave facebook? Lots of reasons - but mostly, it didn't make me feel good. Often, I'd spend too much time, and then feel rotten about the lost time and lost productivity. I never cared for the political conversations or the religious posts. I don't have those conversations in real life so why would I engage in them on facebook? I grew up with the lesson that religion and politics were off-limits at the dinner table, and that expands to my workplace and also to cyberspace. It's just the way I am and I don't judge others for participating - I just choose not to. Not something I'll ever be comfortable with, regardless of the setting. It's not that I'm uninformed or don't have an opinion. I certainly do, but I keep those opinions private.  Another problem - I don't care for the dynamic I see on fb (as in real life) of keeping up with the cyber-Joneses, nor do I want to know what makes people angry or want to rant. I found myself keeping up with people I barely know, while at the same time not staying in touch, enough, with my own flesh-and-blood family and friends.

And at the same time, there are aspects of fb that I miss greatly right now, and I do hope that diminishes soon. I miss seeing my friends' updates about the happy things that are happening in their lives. I miss instant-messaging my sisters and friends. I miss seeing beautiful photographs that my friends and relatives post. I seriously miss sharing my blog updates and photos of my grandsons. That was all a big part of my every day. It's really like losing a long-term friendship, one I've maintained for over five years, and I have to find other ways to compensate.

Another thing I've noticed - without fb promotion, this blog is seen by far fewer people. That's troublesome so I have to figure out a way to keep my blog relevant and current and hope the audience doesn't leave without a fb nudge to keep my readers loyal. Time will tell...

I thank YOU, my readers, for coming back to see what's new here at ADK Baker. I promise lots of delicious posts to keep you coming back!

(And if you come back tomorrow, you'll find a great recipe for Apple Brownies posted!)