I love social media. I love to be connected with friends. I love learning new things that social media feeds me regularly. I was active on Facebook – really active for the longest time. I loved the ability to stay connected with the lives of old friends miles apart\u00a0and it made life fuller. I enjoyed sharing tit-bits about my life and learning what my friends are up to.<\/p>\n
I drooled over food photos, dreamed about vacation destinations, got all mushy over baby pictures,\u00a0went on trips down memory lane\u00a0and got teary-eyed seeing wedding pictures. I was the kind of person Facebook was created for. I was there a few times a day. Once I linked my account to my Iphone I was there more than a handful of times a day.<\/p>\n
It was not about “liking” or “sharing” things. It was the information that Facebook provided that kept me hooked. I was an addict and I was happy to be one. I could not believe how people lived without Facebook.<\/p>\n
I enjoyed movie\u00a0and book reviews. I enjoyed viewpoints of different friends on current affairs. My Newsfeed had a great mix of interesting articles that I could relate with. I had blocked off most of the game updates and meaningless photos people were tagged in. I kept my Newsfeed clean and the way I wanted.<\/p>\n
But, unlike my blog Facebook was my happy medium. No rants. Very few emotional outbursts. Very few scars focussed there. It was sharing the happinesss. I did not count the likes or the shares. I enjoyed the feeling of being connected.<\/p>\n
I created lists to ensure that some things stayed private within my “near and dear” cirlce. I constantly monitored these lists and I had it all figured out. Then lightening struck. I suddenly decided I was sharing too much on Facebook and others were judging my life (just like I judged theirs) via what they see online.<\/p>\n
I decided to be a silent spectator and view the Facebook games from far. It was fun but just as addicting. One minute I was laughing at something and the next getting upset about some snarky message posted there. This went on for few months. I broke the silence when I desperately needed my friends to stand for me and with me during a scary period in life. (They did and they went beyond Facebook. Most of my friends emailed\/called me)<\/p>\n
I woke up, exhausted and overwhelmed with my emotions. The truth was staring at me. The friends who cared and who I needed to connect with did not need Facebook. Without further thought, I disabled my account. I thought I will get back to it in a few weeks when I let the emotions\u00a0in me die out.<\/p>\n
It has been\u00a04+ months and I do not have the urge to get back to Facebook (oh well I am lying – at times I am tempted to get back just to see some pictures and pass more judgements but I am resisting the occasional urges). I have been feeling a sense of peace and bliss that I did not have during my relationship with Facebook. As much as I would like to say that I wisened up and learned to handle stress better – the truth was my changed relationship.<\/p>\n
Just like I dumped some real-life relationships, I dumped my relationship with Facebook. I do not feel guilty or sad or disconnected. All I feel is a sense of contentment and happiness. I did not have to track the lives of 400 odd friends (tracking my life and kuttyma’s is enough for me). I did not care if X had a baby or if Y brought a poodle. If the news has to reach me, there are multiple ways to connect and share the news with me. I am still socialmedia active. I am just off Facebook and the\u00a0one-dimensional view of my life\u00a0I was putting up there.<\/p>\n
I have had friends and family ask why I disappeared. Now you know the answer. It may not have made sense to you but to me it BLACK and WHITE.<\/p>\n
Will I be back? Maybe. I am not closing the door. My account is just disabled and I can re-activate it any time. I am just not ready to do it.<\/p>\n
How can you reach out to me? I am still active on Twitter<\/a>. By email – poohsden at gmail dot com. On Whatsapp or Imessage\u00a0for those who have my number. LinkedIn<\/a> for environmental engineer side of me. Leave a comment\u00a0here.\u00a0How many more ways do I need to stay in touch?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I love social media. I love to be connected with friends. I love learning new things that social media feeds me regularly. I was active on Facebook – really active for the longest time. I loved the ability to stay connected with the lives of old friends miles apart\u00a0and it made life fuller. I enjoyed sharing tit-bits about my life and learning what my friends are up to. I drooled over food photos, dreamed about vacation destinations, got all mushy over baby pictures,\u00a0went on trips down memory lane\u00a0and got teary-eyed seeing wedding pictures. I was the kind of person Facebook was created for. I was there a few times a day. Once I linked my account to my Iphone I was there more than a handful of times a day. It was not about “liking” or “sharing” things. It was the information that Facebook provided that kept me hooked. I was an addict and I was happy to be one. I could not believe how people lived without Facebook. I enjoyed movie\u00a0and book reviews. I enjoyed viewpoints of different friends on current affairs. My Newsfeed had a great mix of interesting articles that I could relate with. I had blocked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[204],"tags":[263,692],"class_list":["post-5813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-zen-spot","tag-facebook","tag-goodbye"],"yoast_head":"\n