I have finally managed to delete (rather deactivate I must say, they don't allow to delete it forever) my Facebook account. It took me some strong willpower and lot of self control to do so. It has been two days now and I finally don't feel the urge to go back. I would better be in my own world than on a virtual world that everyone is on. That would give me peace and helps me connect to myself.
I have nothing against facebook or for that matter any social networking site but I feel, of late too much of social networking has somehow made all of us more concerned with what's happening in other's life than concentrating on our own self. Ask yourself honestly just one question - "when was the last time I spent quality time with myself?"
You would probably not have an answer to that. Isn't it of higher priority to connect with yourself than connecting with people around the globe? Isn't it important to spend time to do what you love doing than monitoring the wall of your facebook profile? Isn't it important to give time to your near and dear ones in person than following them in a virtual world? I believe, if television has been an idiot box and has been eating up people's precious time in the past then it is facebook currently which has been making all of us addicted to.
When I say doing something which you love doing it could be anything - reading your favourite author, favourite genre of books, writing, going on trips to visit places which you always intended to (it requires a lot of planning and time to set out on a vacation), going on bicycle rides on sunday, getting associated with local clubs and groups you always wanted to be a part of, visiting your near and dear ones, learning music, learning a new musical instrument, learning new recepies, playing your favourite sport, and so on and on which always made you excited about.
It is definitely good to be in touch with your old friends, far off family members and connect with long lost friends from the past but it doesn't justify putting our previous time into stuff which have zero value.
When I say doing something which you love doing it could be anything - reading your favourite author, favourite genre of books, writing, going on trips to visit places which you always intended to (it requires a lot of planning and time to set out on a vacation), going on bicycle rides on sunday, getting associated with local clubs and groups you always wanted to be a part of, visiting your near and dear ones, learning music, learning a new musical instrument, learning new recepies, playing your favourite sport, and so on and on which always made you excited about.
It is definitely good to be in touch with your old friends, far off family members and connect with long lost friends from the past but it doesn't justify putting our previous time into stuff which have zero value.
When it comes to evaluating value addition to ones life as part of spending time on facebook let me just zero in with some small examples. What value does one get when he/she reads some gags which have nothing to do with you personally? what value does sharing a good piece of quote add to your knowledge system? What value does it add to your life when it comes to counting likes on your profile picture or album of a trip that you had been on vacation? I would say, you liked being clicked, you went on a good holiday, you had fun and you spent an awesome time having dinner with a friend from school actually added value to your life. But I would never agree when one goes to facebook and posts photos, status messages and expects people to be enlightened by you having fun. Neither does it add value to you nor to someone who reads or views your post. Its good to be liked, to be popular and to be appreciated but being all day, all night on facebook is like roaming on the streets with some people all along day in day out without any final destination. This is like some street guys who never have an objective in their life and hence never land where they ever wanted to be. But in the process, people who wanted to sell you their product, their items will come by and achieve what they wanted to. It is preferred to go and get what you want than being sold what you never wanted.
I too had been addicted to facebook but I am glad I could finally come out of it and it really feels great to be back to what I love doing. Hope I can keep up with my passion of writing and take a step ahead that I have decided for myself. I also hope others too can at least take out time for themselves and do what they love doing. I wouldn't say quitting facebook is the solution, one can still find time being on facebook, but it helps a lot when you're not on it :)
Signing off for the day!
Abhi