I've returned. And like all New Year's Resolutions, the Positivity Proposal has fallen by the wayside. Although I no longer check Facebook 469268 times a day. I actually haven't checked it in about 18 hours.
I don't miss it. I don't miss Twitter, either, as I also decided to limit my involvement there. I only access my account a handful of times a week now. Mainly while watching RuPaul's Drag Race.
I don't like who I become on Facebook. We've covered this. So why, when I was stopped in traffic for two hours and 15 minutes on my way to work this morning, did I live blog the event? I felt dirty as the comments began to roll in.
I should have spent the time reflecting, maybe. Thinking how lucky I was that wasn't me. Appreciating my warm car when it was 8° outside. Hoping those in the many (MANY!) accidents were and are OK.
Instead, I Facebook'd. And then, even worse, I grew annoyed when people commented.
So I've made a few adjustments:
1. I only have one "Close Friend" now: my husband. In the past, I had many. If this is going to work, those updates need to stop. (Because I certainly can't ignore them!)
2. I've filtered who can see what I post by default. Since I don't plan to completely disappear from Facebook, I've simply cut down on the chance of getting a frustrating comment.
3. I've completely unsubscribed from Those People. You know them. The people you enjoy in real life but on Facebook they repost things in 30 seconds because OMG THEY LUV THEIR DAUGHTER! You can't unfriend them.
Onward.
1. Check Facebook Less.
I should clarify that this is not a FOMO issue; this is an issue I have with Facebook. I actually find that I'm affected by reading my feed. I become unhappy, and I tend to post articles I know will upset political extremists.
I buy into trolling and comparing. I've had to block people from showing up in my feed - family members even! - because I was taking their status updates too personally. I feel badly about myself, I think bad thoughts about them. It's not good for my mental health or my relationship with these "friends" offline.
This is not their fault, it's mine. Number One on my list, it became (also, I'm Yoda).
