AH SOCIAL MEDIA

I don't know how many posts I've started and not finished in the past week.  Have you ever felt overwhelmed when writing?  You can't finish a thought?  Or at least finish a thought in a way you're satisfied with?

I noticed every time I sat down to write, I would check Facebook - scroll through the latest happenings, read a couple articles.  The usual.  I noticed it was like my mind was put on cruise control, and before I knew it I was clicking through pictures taken in Hawaii by someone I haven't talked to in nearly 10 years.

This became especially apparent and bothersome to me around the time when the 50 Shades of Grey trailer came out.  The trailers, the hype, the response.  It was just too much. During the following days after the release of that trailer, I felt particularly weighed down by my newsfeed. There was too much going on, too much in front of me that (quite frankly) I didn't care about.

Only then did I seriously consider deleting my Facebook page.

But then I stepped back from what was an emotionally fueled reaction and thought about the issue at hand.  I talked to my husband about it, and he suggested that I do some major purging.  So I did.  My friends list, my "likes", my groups, my about me section.  All of it.

I started with my friends section.  I unfriended all the people I haven't talked to in years.  There is a negative connotation around the word "unfriend."  I get why, but if I haven't talked to you in 10 years and we weren't all that close when we did talk, you didn't make the cut.  Why does that need an explanation?

My liked pages.  Woah that section was a mess.  I had liked nearly 400 pages most of which I chose to ignore when they popped up on my feed.  I went and "unliked" nearly every page except for the ones I actually liked - a couple bloggers I follow, photography pages, etc.

As for my groups, I left all of them and I deleted some information from my "about me" section.

Everybody is on Facebook.  Truly.  Everybody.  And because of this, it's loud, messy, and at times, annoying.  Companies big and small have gotten in on the action in hopes to reach us.  They give us incentives - "Like" us on Facebook and you'll get $1 dollar off your purchase, a free cup of coffee; and I, of course, "liked" many of these businesses in hopes of getting a deal.  It's become too much.  I don't want to hear about your company on my Facebook page.  I don't want to see your ads and commercials.  I'm stopping by to see what's going on in Alaska and Michigan and maybe post a picture of Ella for family and friends.

This is what I've chosen my Facebook page to become after I considered the context of the platform. I'm going to start using Facebook for its original purpose - to stay connected with friends and family.

I'm not ditching all of social media.  I'm "following" companies, publications, and thought leaders on Twitter; I'm following stylists and fashion bloggers on Pinterest and Instagram.  But Facebook?  I'm reserving that platform for friends and family.

There's great value in cleaning up your social media presence.  It's freeing.  Especially lately, I think it's safe to say we've all been annoyed with Facebook in one way or another.  Don't let it be something that bothers you.  If you're finding yourself irritated, it's time to do some spring cleaning.  It's your profile, take control.  Don't let your newsfeed control you.


Comments

  1. This was the perfect list I needed to do my own purging!! I have actually been thinking about this for a long time myself lately. Why do I really want someone on my "friend" list who has no problem with posting photos of cupcakes that look like female genitalia (seriously, I could not dump her fast enough when that happened)? Life is far to short to be bombarded with ads, incentives, "share this or you will die" memes, or people who are just annoying but you added them because you found them online after a zillion years and felt obligated. Enough already.

    I have a pretty strict rule - you do not get on my list unless I know you in person. Only a small handful of people are on there who I have not met in person, but have had good positive and trusting online relationships with for many years - they can stay. Work peeps - not a chance. Facebook is not about work for me. I never talk about where I work or what I do unless it is extremely vague. Family and friends - home and faith - that's all I really care to have around me.

    So thank you --- it did feel good to purge!!! :-) Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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