EXPERIMENT: A month without Facebook
I’ll never forget the first time.
It was June of 2005, two months prior to my first day of college, when I ran into an old friend at the mall. She was, in fact, a rather attractive old friend, so I did what I could to turn up the smooth a notch or two. We exchanged pleasantries, engaged in brief catch-up dialogue, and quizzed each other on the goings on of our lives. Nothing about the encounter was especially memorable, except that it was the first of countless times I have been asked the following question:
“So, are you on Facebook?”
Wanting desperately to avoid seeming foolish for my ignorance, I racked my mind for some sort of meaning to associate with the apparently foreign “face book” terminology.
“Ummmm, uhhhhhh, errrrrrr, no. What is it? A big book of faces?”
Clever, 18-year-old Andy. Moron.
“Well, no. It’s this website where you can upload a picture of yourself, add some information, and link up with friends. It’s cool, you should check it out. And search for me when you do!”
It was more than enough incentive for me. I created a profile that same night.
One picture. A little background info. One friend. A check for updates every other day. That was it.
Little did I know, socializing as I knew it would never be the same.
Since that fateful day, my once modest Facebook profile has become a sizeable beast, a testament to the power of the hyper-connectivity movement: 1,700+ pictures, 25 videos, 1,118 friends, 3,000+ wall postings, and hundreds, if not thousands of hours consumed.
Though I would probably shudder to know just how many precious moments I have wasted on the various time-sucks the site offers, I must admit that I am truly thankful for my 5 years of social networking. Aside from being a monumental distraction from all things productive, I cannot deny that Facebook has made its mark on, and in some ways defined my social existence.
The truth, as evidenced by my ~4-5 daily log ons, is that I, like so many in my generation, have become hopelessly enthralled with the maintenance of my online persona. I would like to say that I do not need Facebook, that I would be just fine without it, and that “addiction” is far too heavy a word to be throwing around, but how do I really know? I need to find out what life is like without it.
And so, tomorrow evening will mark the commencement of a one month Facebook hiatus.
In my time away I will carefully monitor any affects, positive or negative, and report them in a December follow-up post.
Stay tuned…
I am doing the same thing as part of research for a new book. Love to chat sometime
david horgan
David
November 29, 2010 at 3:24 am
Ugh—- i understand WHY you wanted to do this experiment, but i wanted to connect you to another friend interested in teaching in Korea and have no way of getting ahold of you…. write me a message on FB when you’re back (i am interested to hear about this though). Hope you’re well my love!
Angelica
November 25, 2010 at 2:49 am
Being one of the few, the proud, the Facebook-less, I admire your experiment.
Mind you, I still waste plenty of time online so I’m not feeling too high and mighty but a little change is good for all of us every now and then.
The kids say hi!
Robin
November 7, 2010 at 7:17 am
what do you think the distinguishing characteristics are between time wasted online and time well spent online? i’m curious to know why one set of activities, such as facebook, falls into the former category, while others, such as reading the news or blogging, fall into the latter.
for one reason or other i’ve found myself thinking several times over the last few months about whether or not i’d let my hypothetical children play video games. the part of me that wants to be a ‘good’ parent of course says no, they should be doing other things. but then the other part of me asks, ‘should they?’ if children didn’t have video games, would they really improve themselves that much more by reading, practicing piano, studying, etc.? i doubt it. kids being kids, they’d probably be out playing baseball in abandoned lots or shoplifting or finding some way to shirk chores.
i guess i’m wondering about the efficacy of abandoning altogether something you clearly enjoy, forcing yourself to spend discretionary time on things that you prefer somewhat less.
AMos
November 5, 2010 at 1:53 am
what do you think the distinguishing characteristics are between time wasted online and time well spent online?
fair question. To me, it all comes down to a comparison of merits between the fully active mind(writing, playing chess, etc.) and the mostly passive mind(most FB activities, watching television). The short of it is that the former state grants me consciousness, what I deem to be critical understanding, and a much desired feeling of productivity, whereas the latter tends to make me feel like my brain is turning to useless slop. There is nothing intrinsically better about reading an article than reading my FB news feed, but there is a noticeable difference in the way they make me feel.
As for my own hypothetical children and their future video game playing habits… I will let them play, no doubt, but it definitely won’t be a free for all. I think an hour or so per day of gaming is fine, provided that is IS coupled with something we that we(my kid and I) agree to be of intellectual/creative value. I’ll do everything I can as a parent to expose him/her to a myriad of opportunities that foster the discovery of new abilities, but eventually the way they spend their time will not be a decision for me to make. Hopefully I will have done enough at that point to point them in the right direction.
Andy Baxley
November 5, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Andy, this is awesome! Facebook has quickly become for me a pretty monumentous distraction from, as you say, “all things productive”. I would love to try this experiment. I will anxiously await hearing of the after-effects on you. Yup, I said it- “I’ll do it right after you do it!” Hopefully you don’t wither away from lack of something to do. HAH. Something tells me you won’t.
Love you!!
Jen
November 4, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Alright sis, I did it. I’ll let you know how it turns out, then…. YOUR TURN!
Andy Baxley
November 5, 2010 at 3:17 pm
It’s all well and good to do without facebook, but how the heck can we wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY without it??? Guess this will have to do. Love you, miss you, and wishing you many happy returns of the day . . . from the Krugers
Frances (and Steve) Kruger
November 22, 2010 at 10:03 am