Addiction is morality’s most powerful enemy. It can make a decent man steal and kill. It can tear families apart. It upsets religious beliefs and cultural values; it threatens to rip the fabric of our society. I’m not saying that my addiction to Facebook was going to provoke apocalypse, but it was pretty bad.
As a woman with faith in the supremacy of research, Facebook became a source of frustration for me. I craved truth, objectivity, and fairness. All I saw on Facebook were the nonsensical feelings, fleeting and hypocritical opinions, and general lack of respect shown by my “friends.” And I was tired of it. I wanted to end my addiction to this platform. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about passion. It’s beautiful when a person gets swept away in the sincerity of their beliefs or opinions. I only ask that those beliefs and opinions be fair, calculated, and virtuous. It’s easy to allow our personal experiences to alter our perceptions. When this happens, we lose the ability to think clearly and without prejudice. We sacrifice our human ability to communicate effectively. Humans are gifted with speech yet we use it to violently berate each other online. It’s barbaric. A considerably more effective method of argument is to create a well-organized essay and back it up with research.
On January 16, with the upcoming Presidential Inauguration of Donald J. Trump, I decided that a break from Facebook would be beneficial. I assumed that no one would be posting any productive statuses or aiding society in any way. So I posted this status on Facebook, deleted the app from my phone, and that was that. No Facebook for one month (because it supposedly only takes 30 days to break a habit). How hard can it be?
On January 17, I attempted to open Facebook 23 times. I was awake for 16 hours that day which means I absentmindedly tried to check my notifications more than once every hour. Let’s pretend that I typically only spend ten minutes at a time on Facebook – that’s still nearly four hours a day on social media! That’s ridiculous! In that amount of time, I could have watched one entire, full-length Lord of the Rings movie.
For the next week, I lost my mind. I started my period and spent two hours crying in the bathroom, asking the shampoo to love me. I get emotional during my period but not that emotional. It must have been Facebook Withdrawals. Without that consistent flow of “likes,” I felt lost. I felt like no one liked me in real life. I must have called my mom nine times a day that week.
Week two: I think in statuses. Honestly, I was disgusted with myself at this point. Desperate for a creative outlet for my thoughts, my use of other social media platforms spiked. More Snapchats were sent this week than in the history of my internet life. However, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat did not quench my thirst. Their powers aren’t as strong as Facebook’s.
On the third week, I started to get irritated. People kept forgetting that I’d given it up. They were angry that I hadn’t replied. I realized that I couldn’t Facebook Message other students for advice about assignments. I couldn’t create an Event for a party. I couldn’t post a bunch of cute pictures of my boyfriend’s dog… The lack of social attention didn’t bother me this week. I was bothered by the fact that I didn’t have the power to communicate.
Finally, the final week is here. This week was easy, nothing life-altering to report. I spent less time using other forms of social media. Consequently, I spent more time giggling with my boyfriend over stupid things. It was really nice. I’d pick giggly boyfriend over Instagram any day.
At the end of my Facebook-Free month, I don’t feel like my world has turned around. I imagined that I’d turn into a guy who only wears flannel and drinks locally brewed craft beer. But, nope, I’m still a woman who likes to communicate with people on the internet. My experience didn’t end with some deeply moving realization. I’m just a little more productive and self-reliant.
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