This week I reached my breaking point, and I decided to get rid of my Facebook account. Between the election going on in the United States and the refugee crisis, I was seeing far too many racist and misogynist posts on my Newsfeed. I used to try one of two approaches: the first was to respond to the posts, which never changed anyone’s mind and usually left me feeling hopeless; the second was to ignore it, which usually left me feeling weak and icky.
After one too many times duking it out in the comments section, I decided it was time to remove myself from the situation. I had to come to terms with the fact that that it was not my job to educate everyone on sexism, racism, discrimination and oppression, especially when it wears me down.
I deactivated my Facebook account on Monday night, after letting everyone know that they would have to get in touch with me on my cell if they needed me.
Since then, I haven’t missed it. I’ve found myself looking for it on my phone when I get bored, but that’s more habit than anything else. And when I remember that my Facebook isn’t there anymore, I actually feel relieved.
Studies have been done on the effects of social media on our lives. Many say that it breeds narcissism, or that it breeds insecurity. It’s easy to become obsessed with the image we portray of ourselves and our lives, and to feel like only the best parts of ourselves are worth sharing (because what is a selfie without the perfect filter to hide our flaws?). It’s also easy to forget that everyone is only sharing the best parts of themselves too, and believe that everyone else is doing better than us.
Other studies show that Facebook is actually addictive, and that the things that we signed up to use Facebook for – connecting with friends, sharing updates on our lives, getting news stories, etc. – can actually become the very things we resent and feel negatively about.
It also weakens our brains’ ability to occupy and entertain us when we get bored. According to psychologist Timothy Wilson, happiness can be linked to the amount of attention we’re paying to something, and that unhappiness can be linked to boredom. The problem is that most of us check social media whenever we get bored and look through posts passively. “One would think we could spend the time mentally entertaining ourselves,” Timothy explained to the New Yorker. “But we can’t. We’ve forgotten how.”
Since I’ve deleted my Facebook page, I’ve been getting more homework done, my apartment has never been cleaner (maybe not up to my mother’s standards, but it’s a start!), and I’ve found that I’m less stressed and happier. Maybe not all of that can be attributed to deleting my Facebook (I did recently come out of the other side of my midterms alive and well), but I think deleting it has been a small part of the improvements to my life.
And besides that, I’ve spent more time with my friends – face to face, over the phone, getting coffee, watching Netflix, planning weddings (I’m the Maid of Honour!)….
While this may not be permanent, I will probably keep things this way at least until exams are over. If you need me, you’ll have to get some stamps.
Photo source: http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2014/08…