Bless me, Mr. Zuckerberg, for I have quit. It has been three weeks since I last looked at FB. For my penance, I shall read three books and walk each day in the fresh air.
I joined FaceBook 16 years ago. Three weeks ago, I deactivated my account. I had several reasons for doing this. First, I am pissed with Mark Z. for toadying up to you-know-who. Second, I don't want Mark Z. up in my business. Third, I was addicted.
Sigh. Yes. Addicted. It's not that I was looking at it all day long; I didn't have it on my phone, so there wasn't that temptation. Still, every time I would sit down to use my computer to write or pay bills or read email, I would first take a quick look at FB. Sometimes, that quick look would lead me down a rabbit hole, from which I might not emerge for 15 or 20 minutes.
How many hours of my life have I wasted on such rabbit holes?
I will confess that for the first two weeks after deactivating, I experienced something like phantom-limb syndrome. I would sit down at my computer and look in my history for FB, only to remember it was no longer there. I'm happy to report I'm past that now. Sure, I will miss seeing what some people are posting or talking about, and, yes, I will miss the opportunity to share the link when I have a new blog post. But the negatives now outweigh the positives.
I have struggled with my addiction for too long. Over ten years ago, I wrote a post in which I vowed to only look at FB once every second or third day. Clearly, that didn't work out. . . So, adios FaceBook, and kudos to those of you who never joined or, if you did, never became addicted.
FB friends, I'll see you in the real world.
(I deactivated, rather than shutting down, my account because I didn't want to lose Messenger, which is the only address I have for some people. When I collect contact information for those I want to stay in touch with, Messenger can go too. I have kept Instagram for now, even though it is also owned by Meta, because I like to see family photos and I no longer post anything personal there. If it gets to be too much of a time suck, I will ditch it too.)
And what about the other two members of the billionaire, sycophant triumvirate? I can't afford a Tesla, and even if I could, I would not give a nickel to that man.
Jeff B, you're next on my list. This one is really difficult for me. I love the ease of Amazon and I hate to get in my car to shop. But, enough is enough. I have cut down on my Amazon purchases, and when my membership year is up, I shall quit (ouch). In the meantime, I understand that Jeff's ex has given away half of her fortune, and since some of that money came from me, I will console myself with the thought that my purchases have indirectly supported good causes.
And now, I'm going to take that walk in the fresh air.
