Closing the Facebook
By Adam Parker - Posted at Reformation 21:
It's been two weeks since I deleted my Facebook account. I do not see myself going back. The reasons for leaving have nothing to do with cybersecurity or privacy - they have to do with what Facebook is doing to me as a person.
I began using Facebook about a decade ago. Ten years ago my life was very different. My wife and I had lived in a different state for a stretch and recently had moved closer to home again. My life had been going through changes as our family had grown from 1 children to 4 children. As a young family, the idea of being able to share our lives online with family and friends was quite appealing: why not post photos for grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other friends we had made while living in multiple states to see?
There was a stretch of time when I was quite happy with Facebook and found its utility to be helpful. My mom would "like" photos of her grandkids, I knew when my uncle or aunt would have a health emergency, and most importantly I would know when new branches were added to our family tree or less-than-close family members would get married.
However, even back then I found that I was using social media to trumpet my opinions and slap people upside the head when I believed that they were wrong. I would open Facebook and feel a chemical rush as I saw that not only did I have "notifications" to check, but somebody thought I was important enough to argue with me (more about that chemical rush later). I don't recall ever changing anyone's mind, but I remember spending a lot of my time quite worked up.
Like everything else, it can be used for good and positive reasons and it can be a drain on one's time and state of mind. We moved to a remote area and FB has been invaluable in keeping in contact with friends and sharing beautiful photos of the island that we live on. A few rules I try to stick to, I almost never get into controversial discussions; I have , by most people's standards, a very small number of friends and my 'friend request' setting is not open. I do not particularly like talking on the phone and that too can be draining and time wasting if you have a friend who will happily talk for hours about themselves! It is an excellent way to share news and events and it is used hugely in this area for selling and also, for passing on information and goods that may be useful to others. I do spend too much time online, Facebook is a big part of that and yes, I have been disappointed by the content of some posts that have appeared on my Home page, I use the controls to help to control what I see. I think it can be a very dangerous medium for the young but the horse has already bolted. As with everything, self discipline is required. I regularly post Scriptures and Bible commentaries on my site , these are usually 'liked' by a small number of like minded friends and something may be of help to others, if such comments and content were restricted or banned on FB, then I would close my account. I appreciate reading the posts of Christian friends.
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