This week I had an eureka moment. I deactivated my facebook account indefinitely. I had been thinking about doing it for a while. In the past I had tried just cutting back on the amount of time I spent on there, but that website is truly addicting. It is all too easy just to quickly check your updates, then just a few minutes later, you are sucked in.

I have many reasons for doing it, but mainly it is the amount of time that gets sucked away looking at updates from others that aren’t really important. It was inhibiting my ability to be the kind of mother that I strive to be. My children are watching everything that I do. If I continued to play on the computer all the time, I could only expect them to want to do the same when they get a little older. Monkey see, monkey do. Above all, family first. My children are immeasurably more important than my facebook friends.

As a facebook user, I find myself updating the world with many tidbits of my children’s lives. Be it pictures, or status updates about what they’ve been up to, I do it because they are my world and they are the most important thing I have going on in my life. But by doing that I am also taking away from their privacy, of which they have no say over. It is one thing to do that to myself, but I should be protecting them with more privacy.

Also, when I step back and take a different look at social media as a whole, I realize that yes, it helps me stay up to date and in touch with many friends and family, but since I am being “social” all day long it is probably preventing me from making my “real” relationships more deep and meaningful. I have honestly found myself sitting face to face with a friend, but instead of enjoying my time with them, I’ll be daydreaming about a different conversation on facebook. Not good.

I have about 400+ friends on facebook. A much smaller fraction are “real” friends, people who without facebook I would still see, speak to, and keep in touch with. I will miss staying in touch with those who I wouldn’t otherwise, but the ones that are important I will stay in contact with and they will stay in contact with me.

My husband is one of the few people in the world that never joined facebook. Whenever he would see me on there, he would joke about updating my status to something like, “Wow, it is warm outside,” “I had pizza for dinner,” or even “I just took a big poop and I feel great!” Although he was just being funny, he it totally right. Most of what showed up in my feed is really not important, I’ve only been gone a few days, but I can’t imagine I’ve missed much. I read an article which said this need to broadcast yourself is a form of digital narcissism. So true.

Anyways, I only deactivated my page a few days ago, but it was truly liberating. I feel free. Although I still hear myself thinking of witty status updates in my head, I have found more time in my day, and more time when you have a toddler and a baby are priceless. I didn’t totally delete my account, I can still go back to it if I want, so I guess I’m not 100% facebook free, but I don’t plan on going back anytime soon. The “addiction” still lingers, but one day I’ll be strong enough to click delete.

For now, I plan to do more, instead of telling the world what I am doing.