After much deliberation, my hands are clean from all that is Facebook. I didn’t really realize how much time I spent using that social network until I got rid of it. I believe what I found to be the most ridiculous part of deactivating my account were the ridiculous and variable means by which Facebook was trying its best to prevent individuals from deactivating.

It was honestly a scavenger hunt trying to locate the delete/deactivation link, to begin with. Initially, I wanted to delete my account, but the fact that I could only find the ‘deactivate account’ link, I just decided to go with that option instead. Even though a more permanent solution would have been nice, I wasn’t about to go blind while meticulously searching for a permanent delete. I guess in that sense, Facebook won.

Once I clicked the link, however, it proceeded to take me to a page with profile pictures of several randomly selected friends that said “[Insert the first name of your friend] will miss you.” This made me laugh. It’s almost as though Facebook was trying to convince me that if I proceed that I would be dropping off of the face of the Earth, to all my real friends and family. Sadly, next came a list of Facebook’s inquiries regarding why I wanted to deactivate. I clicked on the reason that most closely related to me, which was due to it being a distraction. Suddenly a ‘remedy’ popped up, informing that I could limit the amount of notifications and/or alerts I receive(d). After that slightly annoying pop-up, in order to deactivate my account I had to type in my password and then an illegible and random Captcha challenge-response that I had to type in several times before I got it right.

All in all, I feel relieved. I can finally devote more of my time writing things of substance, rather than quick, one sentence synapses of events that unfold in my life. Not only that, but it’s become apparent to me that Facebook wasn’t really helping me establish or strengthen any relationships I had. Sure, it helped to fix the problem with distance, but Facebook shouldn’t be the only means of keeping in contact. Real relationships consist of frequent communication, and although you can log onto Facebook and read about someone’s life – that doesn’t necessarily make you a part of it. Just because you read that someone had a baby and write ‘Congratulations!’ on their wall – doesn’t make you any closer or a better friend; I believe it just makes you socially conscious.

Anyway, that’s all I really have to say on that matter. Here’s to a new FB-free life! One last thing I need to mention is my friend’s Jennifer’s blog where she includes a link to an extremely interesting post with regards to the realistic limit of our social circles. You should most definitely check it out whenever possible. [Link] Ciao.