Away from a perpetual machine that churns out BS
My social experiment on keeping off from Facebook after years of heavy usage.
101 days, since I took a Facebook sabbatical. Another mile stone achieved. Should I continue it or should I be back? Question right now.
My initial plan was to abstain for 21 days. That is the period needed for a habit to form. The next was to complete 90 days, the time period needed to break an addiction. I superseded both without any withdrawal symptoms. I won the will and gained the time.
Thus proved, I could do off with *any* ‘necessity’. Not that, SM is a necessary evil. As a journalist it is a helpful, but expensive tool to meet people and churn out stories. To exchange ideas and concepts, to think from another perspective. To put on your opponents’ shoes.
My FB-time was inversely proportional to my Me-time. The more hours I spend on Facebook, the fewer hours I spend with my kids. At 40, as mid-life hits, you realise your loss. The starry moonlit nights that you missed, the morning chirps that you long became deaf to, everything…
The best thing I miss is my 20’s. I wouldn’t be getting it back. But my next goal is to be as ripe as when I was 21. Youthful enough, glaring with an adventurous and open mind, ready to risk, ready to wet my body, ready to take off my shirt without feeling ashamed of a fat tummy.
I am not convinced though. I haven’t worked out in my entire life, haven’t run beyond a quarter mile, haven’t played football or danced more than a couple of days. Even my career was more or less behind the desk. I was never a reporter. But I hope. So am I.
For me, deciding in favour of ditching Facebook was not easy. Once I took the decision, it was a cakewalk though. FB was a platform on which, I gained a lot of social capital. I was a much sought after author to whom, many looked up to, whenever they needed some sound explanation
FB gave me more traction than when I was to blogging. It gave familiarity, promoted my stories, fetched many alms. Compare it to twitter. Here I am an unknown random guy. The Twitter word limit is a boon in a way so that I could mince words. But I was never a pauper on words.
Painstakingly realised that the FB algorithm makes it sure that nobody is missed. Of all the friends and followers I had on Facebook, only a minuscule of them came to knew that I left. Very few called. Whatever clout I commanded, evaporated into thin air like a mirage on the road
I think I would be back on Facebook, not as a regular, but as a silent listener. I do not have the urge to be on top of the conversation, anymore. I want to watch. I want to understand. I want the rhythm. I consider FB to be a cultural tool to colonise our minds and it hurts.
Using Facebook without allowing it to take on my time is a challenge. But I need to experience it too. I will reactivate sometime from now but will desist from writing a single word or commenting on discussions. Will be a silent spectator.
