At the risk of taking this post too seriously, I will ask:  If Facebook takes up too much time, why not just delete your account?  I am doing fine without a Facebook account.  And people did survive and even thrive for thousands of years, including most of your lifetime and my lifetime, without Facebook.  :-)

I also deleted my account about a year and a half ago. I expected major withdrawal, but didn’t see it. I still spend a good deal of spare time on the web, but in RSS and Twitter, like I did before Facebook overtook ‘em.

I was thinking the other day about business marketing and the way it transitioned from things like “check us out at AOL keyword” to “visit us at keyword.com” to now “or online at facebook.com/keyword”. Seems like a step backwards to me. We were moving away towards owning your own hosting and messaging to now depending on a central provider again.

“Seems like a step backwards to me. We were moving away towards owning your own hosting and messaging to now depending on a central provider again.”

Very good point.  Facebook is only one website, out of millions of sites that a person could visit and spend time on.  Granted, it is a massively popular site, but still there is a whole lot more internet out there beyond Facebook.

The honey badger is not cute.  He’s a bad@$$  And he don’t care.

Digital Sharecropping: http://www.copyblogger.com/digital-sharecropping/

Paul - yes, definitely taking too seriously. :-)  But still a legitimate question. And to answer your question, it’s because it’s a very powerful and helpful tool that, when used with prudence and discipline actually enriches and strengthens relationships, brings me closer to family and opens up potential and possibilities for networking and sharing good ideas and information like never before in the history of mankind.

This post (and video) is merely poking fun at some of the caricatures that come about (and legitimate things a lot of people encounter or struggle with on Facebook) when we don’t use it with prudence, prayer and discipline. And indirectly harping on some of the ways people’s use of Facebook has gone wrong. But again, it doesn’t mean the right answer is necessarily at the other extreme (however tempting it may be sometimes). Ideally, we should learn to not have to be either drunkards or puritans about it.

And the digital sharecropping issue is a real concern for businesses, but you’ll notice the solution proposed by any serious business is a mixture of presence, not an outright deleting of their Facebook presence.

A person (or a business’) “social network” will probably never again be contained within the walls of a single web domain. Scott - the reason such a progression is not a “step backwards” is because the internet has taken a giant step forward from days past into now being a social and integrated web. A web “presence” is not just a web domain anymore. It’s about connecting with people wherever they are at, not making them always come to you.

TRS - Agreed.

I deleted my account last year and have no regrets.  I firmly believe that some people are not called to use it.  I am at a state in life where that form of social networking is not beneficial to my vocation and it definitely did not enrich my relationships.  I have made more real life friends and grown closer to old ones this past year than I ever did on Facebook.  I tend toward social anxiety though, so I feel that forcing myself to make personal contact by phone or face to face was important for spiritual and emotional growth.

well i love facebook…i had a stroke and i feel alone…and theres nobody around me to talk to…facebook gives me chance to talk to anybody my family i want to…talk on phone takes too long, make people feel uncomfortable - realy because i cant say everything…and i can keep up with all of them…my mom died 11 april 2011…on facebook i look her up and say whatever i want to…

You can give it up for Lent and see what kind of addiction withdrawl you get..worked for me ;)

i went almost 9 mos without facebook…starting mar 17 r010…thru lent…i didnt know what computer is for, or how to turn it on, or where the page was everybody else used when omline… i couldnt play solitaire…i sat, til i tired, then go to bed…id get up and do it all over again…

i was a dishrag for 9 mos…i relied (altho i didnt “know” it) on hubbit or one of two daughters living at home…i was constantly surprised by someone…but too many people think if you dont talk to them they must be boring you or something…

mom was sick…a lot…when i get home i get on facebook to share with everybody from calif to flor…11 bros and sis i got, but could only talk via keyboard…thank GOD for facebook, becase one day i sent for my bros and siss…they all got to see mom, talk to her, tell her she had our permission to go home to her mom…3 weeks later i told them all shed gone…

thank GOD for something we folks that cant get around, cant tell people where we want to go, or ta;k when we get there, a way to say “hi im thinking of you”...

I was a Facebook “addict” if you will. I was an addict until the day I decided to pull the plug. It was all too much. Since that day I have been nothing but pleased with my choice. Whenever I get an opportunity, I suggest my friends do the same. I blogged about the reason behind my decision here: http://delightfulbybridget.blogspot.com/2011/11/bye-bye-facebook.html

I have read so many of these posts and while I agree with some about the ease of communication for people who can not get out much or live away from their family and friends, I have the same issues but if I want to connect quickly even using video, I use skype.  I do not have a facebook account, tried it for a bit but felt my privacy being invaded so I deleted it.  I have young relatives who spend hours, literally seven or eight hours straight, using facebook and putting their entire lives on line.  I prefer to see people face to face and use my time for good causes - volunteering - rather than endlessly sitting before my computer to read for hours. There are many good books to read rather than sitting in front of a computer or being glued to your phone.  There are businesses I don’t deal with because they want to do everything on line and what about trying to get something as simple as a recipe - oh, just “like” us on Facebook to get the recipe or other information - forget it, I can go to the library and get recipes out of books there.  So many websites with newsletters and some with important issues are now using the “like us’ on Facebook route so I unsubscribe from them and get my news from other sources. I prefer to live in the real world rather than in cyberspace.

“
by pam on Wednesday, Dec 14, 2011 11:14 PM (EST):You can give it up for Lent and see what kind of addiction withdrawl you get..worked for me ;) “

—my reply—I gave it up for lent last year, too.  Just posted on my FB, see you on FB after Easter!  I was fine with out it!  I still use it, but it’s nothing I MUST be on every day….

People that continuously just look at their cell phones at FB and for texts is pathetic.  There are days, weeks I don’t even put my cell phone on.  Guess I’m too busy doing other productive things. (Reading, learning school text, doing volunteer work, etc.) 

I primarily use FB to KIT with poeple I don’t see or call that often and to posts pictures for them to see of family, etc…Other than that, I don’t play those farm games or other things like that.

The computer and the internet is an amazing tool for education (research for school papers, taking online classes, etc.) and can cut down time shopping at stores by just ordering the things you need online…and now is great to watch TV & movies via a Roku Box. (which provides much higher quality things to watch vs. cable and network television at a fraction of the costs!)...other than that, just starting at your phone, lap top or IPAD waiting for a stupid text is just a waste of life.  Go out and DO SOMETHING!

check for more for gift

I’m away from my extended family and FB has been awesome with keeping in touch, but there is that weird expectation that all things that I want my family to know about, I have to post on FB. I don’t post personal things about our kids online, and I kept having to delete posts about a medical emergency. It felt really rude to delete well-wishes, so I think there is a lot to be said for keeping real relationships from getting too virtual.

I am a stay home mom who lives about 20 miles from the nearest town.  Sometimes Facebook is the only adult contact I have all day.  I do not regret my choice to cut myself off from most adult contact to raise my children, but I am grateful for the ties Facebook has allowed me to keep.  I have lunch with my girlfriends once a month, but daily contact via Facebook has helped me keep my sanity.