I signed up on Facebook year 2008. I used Multiply, Myspace and Friendster prior to that. Once Facebook was out, I have few Myspace and Friendster friends who transitioned and mentioned that it was an awesome site and that everyone should be on Facebook. Eventually, I joined and encountered the multiple highs and lows of social media.

Facebook is supposed to be a fun and easy way to connect with friends and family. It was so fun at first until I wasn’t able to get out of my addiction to it. I currently deactivated my Facebook and deleted the app on my phone (except messenger for immediate family members who are always online and connected to the internet and current work colleagues since most of the company communications are done through messenger). We do have corporate chat apps but they are only accessible within the office and not outside that’s why we need Facebook messenger. Today is my first day without it. We’ll see how strong I am from battling my Facebook addiction, the challenges and the changes that will happen in my life without it.

What was good?

Facebook is really great in terms of connecting with family and relatives located in different parts of the globe. You can make a chat group using Facebook Messenger and give real time updates to family when there are events or important discussions.

It is great for keeping in touch with old school mates, teachers, batchmates and university. You’ll be able to see their adventures, things that they enjoy and like on a personal level.

Facebook also allows us to keep in touch with our career network. Our friends from one company that we used to hang out with. Friends and colleagues in our current job, our managers and network. It’s a great platform of information about jobs and vacancies too.

Facebook is also used in providing news and information real time and those information is also shared to others globally.

When there are pros, there are also cons. I will be discussing the cons based on my own experiences and observation.

Facebook deceives and gives us a sense of unhealthy happiness. What I mean here is in terms of friends, how many of your facebook friends do you really interact with. Are they really your friend? What bearing would it take if you remove those family and friends and network whom you really have 1% interaction. If you are a nobody like me,who do not use Facebook to earn money, what’s the need for almost 2783 friends (Yes, that’s the total number of my friends on the platform). Do these people, most of whom you’ve no longer interacted with for the past 3 to 5 years and whom are not really close to you, do they really need to know about your personal life? Do they really have an effect on your daily life, mood and finances? Do they really care if you are sick or dying? Do they really even pray for you when they post a comment that they will pray for you? Truth is we are just looking for sympathy and validation. When we post something, it’s not really those people but the ones who are really close to us whose opinions matter.

I was added by batchmates before from my old schools and most of them, I really do not know on a personal level. They are just the random people who pass by school corridors whose names and faces I really do not know. Who are the ones I will never forget? Those who helped me when I was still studying and those who bullied me, they are the extreme ends of the spectrum of my life. Those in between, no memories or interaction.

Adding colleagues from previous companies and current colleagues is great. However, lately I observed that Facebook became the vessel for rants, hate and gossips. I myself am guilty of it since it has become a normal norm as Ì see them everyday when I scroll aimlessly for hours on facebook. I see family, friends, colleagues and even public figures post on social media about their life issues, their hatred, their gossips and religious warfares. I was a victim of a religious bashing. I have an elementary classmate who was very active in her Christian organization. One time I posted about how Yoga helped me in handling my body pains and chronic illness as I am not allowed to do strenuous exercises. She screenshot my post and posted my name and tagged me in her Christian group asking her group mates to pray so that I will see Jesus in my life and mentioned that Yoga is a form of worship to Satan. That my chronic illness is a punishment from God and that I should join them so that I will be saved from the Rapture mentioned in the Book of Revelation. When I did not join, she and her church mates sent me hate messages and threats. Everything ended when I reported their harrassment to Facebook and blocked all of them.

Year 2010, I posted on Facebook asking for help for my father. At that time, he was suffering from depression. Having no one to turn to at that time and being so young at that time, I asked people if they know ways to help out someone who is depressed. People reached out to me giving me advice and help. My relatives got furious about it, those were the people who were so close to me way back in the past, they literally shunned me from the family saying that I shamed the entire clan and family. I apologized for it and that became my first and last post about life and asking help as Depression and emotions are taboo topics in my clan. At that time, I felt like I am a criminal or murdered someone. That’s how my clan treated me. They stopped talking to me, gossiped about me and started acting like I never existed on Earth. To be honest, I got so depressed at that time too. As the years went on and I got older, I realized that in life, there will come a time that only those who accept you in good, bad and your ugly side really matters.

Day 1 journey to No Facebook Social Experiment

I got up very early today and deactivated my Facebook, I remove the app on my phone and this journey will be for 100 days. I will do my very best to avoid reactivating and downloading the app. I know this will be very tough but I’m positive that I can do it. This is also a way for me to really check who will reach out to me or not and who are the ones who can live with or without me in life. So far as of writing this blog, I cleaned the 2nd and 3rd level of our house and did a Marie Kondo style of cleaning my closet since 8 AM and I just finished at 4 PM. Looking around…..I am very satisfied with the outcome. Time to cook dinner now.

Share your thoughts. Can you live without Facebook? Yes, No, Maybe, Why?

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