Superbowl Sunday? Quit Facebook Sunday.

Hello ATS.

Good news... I just quit Facebook today. My account is currently deactivated and will be deleted from the public in 14 days. They say if you have a problem, the only way to start making amends is by looking into the mirror and admitting something is wrong. This website has turned my REAL social life into a giant zero and has psychologically damaged me too. Though i don't have any proof what so ever that this website was intentionally created to draw in emotionally wrecked individuals, i can safely admit that I have revealed more about myself, emotionally, and physically to all my supposed friends. My new best friend... my psychologist... became a 420 limited character box.

Looking through photos of other people is NOT right.
Spending REAL money on digital farms and gifts is NOT right.
Getting DRUNK and making RAW updates is NOT right.
Being tagged in regrettable pictures is NOT right.
Getting fired based on you're opinion is NOT right.
Poking you're nose in everyone Else's business is NOT right.

From a psychological point of view... You're mind is a sponge. Sometimes at night you have dreams based on the things you see or go through during your waking state. If you are constantly on a website and are looking through the lives of others... the thoughts will come into your sleep whether you like it or not. I have taken an interest in Lucid Dreaming and being able to control what i see in my subconscious. The disappointment of staring at my computer screen in my dreams with Facebook opened up on Firefox is enough to prove to me that this website has taken over and I don't like it anymore.

When you step back... Facebook does teach you a clear lesson. NO ONE is perfect and people pretend to be something that they are not 90% of the time just to impress the person standing in front of them. Facebook shows just how hypocritical individuals are... and its not their fault. Once you fall into the current, its pretty difficult to swim up stream and when you do... people notice. I don't really know if I will ever get another Facebook account after my 14 days are up, what I do know is that i have got to invest my time in REAL things rather than digital social networks that teach us nothing but irony, hypocrisy, lies, and the art of becoming one nosy fiend.

Side Note... My personality allows me to do things out of cold turkey (out of the blue). I actually found it quite difficult to go ahead with deleting my Facebook account. I sat and looked at videos of people demonizing the social network just to encourage my decision. It's 11:11PM. No more Facebook for me.

reply to post by drkid


I've considered doing this too. At one point I deleted my myspace and was glad I did. But facebook is so much more attractive. It's almost like escapism. You can see what everyone else is doing in their lives. If you're bored- go on facebook and chat with friends you have lost touch with. However it seems too personal sometimes. There are things I would rather not have people know about me. A thousand years ago facebook didn't exist. If you wanted to see a photo of someone else, you either had to draw it from memory or go ask that person in real life to explain the scene- and to check on someones status, you had to actually go visit them. I think we as a country are -too- connected. And at the same time we all feel so distant from each other? Why? With such a plethora of social networking sites it should be the opposite. But face to face contact has lost its value, and people would rather post a youtube video on a wall than write someone a nice well thought out letter.

You know something is wrong when you feel more comfortable in a chat room then a class room. (This is speaking for myself)

I understand exactly where you are coming from on this one and I have had (and in a way still do) the same problem. I did try to delete Facebook a couple times but I couldn't for one big reason. Facebook gave me access to a few people I knew and talk to every now and then that are key contacts to have for future opportunities (say a potential job etc).

Facebook also ultimately opened the door to access to house parties and lots of drinking and drugs. I have since kicked drugs and cut down my drinking nights to 1-2 a month (if not less). With kicking those habits, a lot of my "Facebook Friends" have become obsolete (lol).

Although through the process of trying to delete my Facebook I did learn something important. I don't need it. I lived without it no problem for several days. I need to take this a step further and cut down on my computing times (at least the time that I am not spending learning). Hopefully this can come to fruition as I get back into my kickboxing routine and other good habits.

Thank you for this reminder of a thread that I need to get moving on a healthy routine. S+F

All things have their positives and negatives. Same goes for social networking sites and the services they provide. It's always a question of whether the person using those services has the capabilities to balance reality with it. I see no harm in making money off of digital farms, nor knowing what everyone is doing and thinking, if that is what I want to to use the services for. Everything you said that is wrong really isn't wrong. It's what you do with all these services and what you allow these services to do to you that could potentially be wrong. I think FB is the best way to keep in touch with friends and meet new ones, and that is essentially the purpose of FB. You can't blame FB for capitalizing on their popularity. That just proves how "right" FB is for our society- it is what most of us want, a way to keep in touch. Personally I don't know a single person that just stalks photo albums of people all day, but hey, if that is how they want to kill their time, so be it, but who am I to judge if that is the right or wrong way to kill time? For me personally, yes, I think that is a waste of precious time, therefore I don't stare at my friends photos all day, especially when I can send them a message to meet up with 5 minutes later. If you can make money off it, that's swell. If you feel like your privacy is being infringed upon, well you know you don't have to upload every photo, thought, and whatever other personal interest of yours, and you can control what content is available to be seen by the public. Its your world, you control it.

Facebook has become a digital medium for people to "wear their heart on their sleeve", as I like to say. I despise that. About all I use it for is catching up with friends and such. That's about it.

As with anything, if you are uploading status and pictures that may be compromising then you are just asking for problems. There is no need to quit something if you are just using it for what it was meant for...social gathering. Don't play the games, don't get caught up in the checking in crap and you will be fine.

Originally posted by drkid
Hello ATS.

Good news... I just quit Facebook today. My account is currently deactivated and will be deleted from the public in 14 days. They say if you have a problem, the only way to start making amends is by looking into the mirror and admitting something is wrong. This website has turned my REAL social life into a giant zero and has psychologically damaged me too. Though i don't have any proof what so ever that this website was intentionally created to draw in emotionally wrecked individuals, i can safely admit that I have revealed more about myself, emotionally, and physically to all my supposed friends. My new best friend... my psychologist... became a 420 limited character box.

Looking through photos of other people is NOT right.
Spending REAL money on digital farms and gifts is NOT right.
Getting DRUNK and making RAW updates is NOT right.
Being tagged in regrettable pictures is NOT right.
Getting fired based on you're opinion is NOT right.
Poking you're nose in everyone Else's business is NOT right.

From a psychological point of view... You're mind is a sponge. Sometimes at night you have dreams based on the things you see or go through during your waking state. If you are constantly on a website and are looking through the lives of others... the thoughts will come into your sleep whether you like it or not. I have taken an interest in Lucid Dreaming and being able to control what i see in my subconscious. The disappointment of staring at my computer screen in my dreams with Facebook opened up on Firefox is enough to prove to me that this website has taken over and I don't like it anymore.

When you step back... Facebook does teach you a clear lesson. NO ONE is perfect and people pretend to be something that they are not 90% of the time just to impress the person standing in front of them. Facebook shows just how hypocritical individuals are... and its not their fault. Once you fall into the current, its pretty difficult to swim up stream and when you do... people notice. I don't really know if I will ever get another Facebook account after my 14 days are up, what I do know is that i have got to invest my time in REAL things rather than digital social networks that teach us nothing but irony, hypocrisy, lies, and the art of becoming one nosy fiend.

Side Note... My personality allows me to do things out of cold turkey (out of the blue). I actually found it quite difficult to go ahead with deleting my Facebook account. I sat and looked at videos of people demonizing the social network just to encourage my decision. It's 11:11PM. No more Facebook for me.

Good for you.

I personally see nothing wrong with facebook. It has allowed me to connect with long lost friends from long ago.

I don't put anything on there that I would want anyone to see.

I only accept friend request if that person has at least three mutual friends of mine.

I don't have a lot of time to call and chat with everyone I'm associated with so facebook allows me to keep in touch.

I don't play games on facebook or snoop through others pictures as I have other things to occupy my time.

Good luck finding other activities.

Facebook has become a digital medium for people to "wear their heart on their sleeve", as I like to say. I despise that. About all I use it for is catching up with friends and such. That's about it.

As with anything, if you are uploading status and pictures that may be compromising then you are just asking for problems. There is no need to quit something if you are just using it for what it was meant for...social gathering. Don't play the games, don't get caught up in the checking in crap and you w

I basically agree with your thoughts regarding Facebook.
Most people are just showing up their polished and false surface in there.
You don't get to know people better from beeing FB friends with them - you just get to know them the way they want you to know them.
Some people get personal and drop the mask, but the majority are just faking a life in there, making it appear better then it really is.
I still have my FB account, but it's very inactive.

I just got fed up with the obvious polished lies, that I'm afraid I will eventually despise old time friends when I see how easily they lie.
When you talk face to face they open up and tell you the real story, but it seems many people have a hard time doing that same thing online. So you can discuss a persons various problems and then 30 mins later see them update their FB account with all happy faces and no problems whatsoever.

I guess it's in human nature to share problems with just a few good friends and not everyone, but that makes every FB status update more or less fake, doesn't it...?

Since you said it like this - I hope you are not quitting ATS as well. Since this site for sure gets in your head

Originally posted by drkid

From a psychological point of view... You're mind is a sponge. Sometimes at night you have dreams based on the things you see or go through during your waking state. If you are constantly on a website and are looking through the lives of others... the thoughts will come into your sleep whether you like it or not.

reply to post by topdog30


Agreed. Facebook has allowed friends of mine from long ago reconnect. We now meet once a year to update each other face to face. Last October there were over 40 of us. The number grows each year.

Besides, I managed to sell some paintings because of facebook exposure. That's great! And two rock bands have asked me to design the covers of their next CD releases. I'm having great fun because of facebook!!