NWRM: leaving Facebook

potbellypig

This is kind of working-mom related in the sense that time is always of the essence when you hardly have any.

I'm on Facebook and spend way too much time on it. I also worry about the intentions behind what I post, use FB to keep tabs on certain people (mostly my one SIL) and it's a huge time-waster. I should probably get off of it, but I worry that I'll miss out since lots of people use Facebook to communicate/send out invites, etc. I've tried to leave before, and people always ask/make a big deal about it which is weird. I'm a pretty active poster, which is probably why people are shocked when I leave.

My question is for those of you who have left Facebook. Did you find that you missed out on events when you left? Do you waste less time online now? Did people wonder why you weren't on anymore and how did you respond?

EDIT: used the word "probably" a little too much!!

74dragonfly

Have you tried limiting your time on it to once a day? I find i get sucked in both on FB and the bump when i pop in too often. 

jlaOK

DH left Facebook and does sometimes have issues with missing out on invites.  Usually it's not a big deal since I'm still on there but if his friends do a guys night or something someone always has to send him a separate text.

I still have FB but hardly ever post.  It is a nice to have to invites and messaging but not posting helps limit the number of times I'm on per day. 

Maybe try to limit yourself first before you completely quit.

jtmomma13

@k3am that's a pretty cool program!

I would also suggest deleting the app off your phone. I find myself on my phone way too much and all I am doing is looking at pictures of other peoples lives on instagram...when I should be living mine! 

Tink112011

Just yesterday I came to the conclusion that I need to put strict limits on my FB usage.  I find myself judging others and disliking people that I would otherwise like simply because of what they put on FB.

I like the PP's suggestion of deleting the app from my phone. I'm also going to "hide" the posts from all the people that I find myself judging. 

I LIKE FB for keeping up with family members across the country and watching their kids grow, so I don't want to get rid of it completely.  I just need to remove the negativity that it brings to my life.

anchalmasako

I left facebook because I no longer saw value added to my life from it. The mom group I was in on fb dematerialized awhile back, and really the only people I was "friends" with on there aren't currently in my life (nor do I necessarily want them to be). My friends outside of facebook communicate with me via text and email anyway, so it was no big deal.

I'm at the point anyway where I'm looking for a fresh start, so it was the perfect time. I didn't tell anyone...I just deactivated and was done with it after weeks/months of not posting anything.

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cedenton

DH deactivated his account for 30 days and says he is way less stressed. But he's the type to really get involved in people's drama. Not necessarily directly, but in his head.  I'm too narcissistic for that so my only issue with FB is just wasting time.

KL777

I left FB in the traditional sense back in January.  I only check group/organization type pages (example, mother's group, local YMCA, favorite author, etc), not individual people's pages.  It has been great!  If something important happens that's on FB, I find out about it by phone call, text, and e-mail.  I then can go to FB and check that one particular event, and then get off FB.  Yes, I waste less time on the internet now.  Some people never noticed, they just said "you haven't posted as much", when actually I haven't posted AT ALL in eight months :-))))  

dashofreality

Don't have Facebook, I have refused from the beginning. I still have a life and I am invited to things.

rodiesmum

I rarely post on my fb and just use it to receive invites or personal msgs from friends. I dnt post our photos there either. I use it more to chat w close friends from college - three of them.

thedash

I post photos from time to time for family members who live out of state. And it's a convenient way to share group photos as well. But I have probably written two status messages in the past three years. I just assume that nobody gives a shit if I had fish tacos for lunch or saw a rainbow while driving home.

ajaan113

I never had a FB account. I never wanted one. I really have no interest what people do everyday at every hour of the day. If there is an event my friends and family will call, text, or send an email. I like keeping in touch via phone, email, and regular mail.

*sparky*

I dropped FB a few years ago when I found myself spending too much time on it and really not getting out of it.  At the time it was a lot of old HS friends who were posting their every move all day long and I was really not getting anything out of it.  I had tons of friends that weren't really friends of mine and following their lives just seemed dumb.

I really did not miss it for a long time but decided to give it a try again a couple of years ago because I do have family spread all over the country and friends all over the world who I did want to do a better job of keeping up with.  So when I joined again I was more selective about who my friends are, and when someone starts oversharing or otherwise becoming annoying I just block them from my news feed so I don't see their 20 posts a day. 

I also use it more for news and following certain businesses this time around.  I really don't post much so if I dropped off again people may not even realize it for a while.  The first time around a couple of people asked me and I just said I was wasting too much time on it.  I never made a dramatic exit or anything like that.  I just deactivated and disappeared from cyberspace.