[View the republished version on my new blog]
It was my birthday yesterday.
So I turned my Facebook off.
"But Jess! Your birthday is, like, the BEST day to have Facebook!"
Yeah maybe... or maybe not.... And here's why...
Sarah Deutscher recently spoke about "The Great Addiction" we have in this world, aka the "like button culture". The addiction to being liked, flattered, have followers, and in this case the frenzy of birthday posts we expect. So, as a bit of a personal experiment (and because I started to consider the effect social media has on me) I turned my Facebook off yesterday.
About a year ago I started intentionally removing social media from the centre of my closest friendships. These days, the majority of my communication with these people is outside of social media. We talk in real life. (Remember what that was like?)
In addition to this, I've also started deactivating my facebook whenever I am away, on leave, or just need to switch off and IT IS AWESOME. No notifications... No distractions... No obligation... Just real life, real people and real conversation.
So when my birthday rolled around this year, I decided I wanted to spend it with my husband, family and friends WITHOUT the subconscious "chatter" of birthday posts.
I'm sorry if I took away your chance to show me some birthday love, but I much prefer the effort of a birthday card than an overload of notifications. Also, I don't want to feed my addiction to that "like button culture" I mentioned earlier.
Y'see, here's the other thing - Facebook is not one of my love languages. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's not anyone's love language because it's not actually a love language. (Say what now?)! It's just an internet page that we think is personal but really isn't. Social media is a great tool for communication and connection (that I do really enjoy most days) but for life's important events I find it to be cold, tasteless and can often feel like an obligation. (Be honest, how many "HBD2U" messages have you sent to someone you're not really friends with, wouldn't invite to your own b'day party, and only know it's their birthday because facebook told you?)
Am I over thinking it? Probably... Am I still happy I did it? You betcha. I love detoxing from the social media world and what better day to be fully present in the real world than my birthday?
Just sayin'.
Jess xo
P.s. Yes, I did turn 30 yesterday... No, I'm not upset about that. I'm actually really done with my 20's and very excited to have entered the new decade.
P.p.s. This was obviously a personal choice and not one I expect anyone to convert to having read this blog. There's no judgement here. Do what you want with your social media. My only encouragement is that you turn it off every once in a while.
