Why I’m Off Facebook
Friday night I pulled the plug on Facebook. Originally, my thought was to fast one month from Facebook and then return. Now, I am not so sure. I’m not sure I can ever avoid the pitfalls. Here they are:
1. I was addicted. “Hello, my name is Robin Steele, and I’m addicted to Facebook.” I was addicted to the “buzz” of getting a good comment, a ‘like’, or simply a lot of comments on a status update. There is a let down when you don’t get a comment or you see a negative comment. I was tired of letting these things yang me around. I got the to point where I checked Facebook multiple times throughout the hour. If ever there was a dull moment, someone stopped talking, I was in an elevator, I was at a stop light, …I would pull out my ‘smart’ phone and check Facebook. What had people said about what I had said?
2. Time Wasted. Because of reason #1, I was constantly spending time on Facebook and that took me away from other more important issues. I didn’t really have a problem looking at others’ information, because my problem was tied up in my own self-worth. It is impossible for me to have meaningful study period or creative sessions if I am constantly checking Facebook.
3. The networking/communication value of Facebook is way overrated. The internet is such a lazy way to pastor a church. You think you can sit there at a desk and pastor people through Facebook and email. You can’t. People still need one-on-ones and coffee time! I had almost 1200 ‘friends’ on Facebook. Really? The internet shields people from responsibility and accountability and they are able to respond in ways that they would never do in person or on the phone. People are meaner online in a given situation than they would be in person. They are less real. There is no accountibility and people can hide behind technology. A great example of this is ‘events’. If you have an ‘event’ on Facebook, you might have half the people (that say ‘attending’) actually show up. In traditional invitations, you will get at least 75% of your RSVPers to show up. I knew most of this going into to Facebook. Email and texting had been a good precursor. However, I have made a decision to INVEST in my time in more meaningful conversations in person and on the phone. Facebook does provide a connection with people that you haven’t seen in years, and if I ever get back on Facebook, that will be the only reason. I was connected to many pastors all over the world and I am missing that connection. Facebook is also an incredible way to get a crisis or good news out extremely fast. However, for me, meaningful messages like that were like a needle in a haystack. Very few and far in between.
I am not predicting that Facebook is going to fail or it is a fad or phase. Nor, do I think that you will go to hell if you use it. 🙂 However, I’m tired of it.
robin
What has happened since I got off? Check it out!
Posted on June 30, 2010, in Random Mumbling and tagged addiction, facebook, facebook overrated, time wasted. Bookmark the permalink. 16 Comments.
Robin Steele 
Ur absolutely right abt it n m a victim 2. My blog ws mor cr8v n I cud concentrte more on other thngs wen I left it Bt den it’s turnd out 2 b like smokin. U try 2 giv it up 4 sum weeks bt then u jus think. One more cigarette. So deactivatin meAns u can reactiv8 ne time. temptation 😦
I applaud your very bold step away from the crowd. It seemed obvious over the past months that there is a great stirring in your spirit and ministry. I believe that you will find the burning bush in the desert just as your predecessor did years ago. God Bless you Pastor; it is a privilege to work in this vineyard.
I have to wholeheartedly agree when Michael and I got married in 2008 I realized I was investing way too much time on myspace and facebook (any time was too much) that could have been invested in my relationship with my husband, but more importantly my relationship with Christ. For the sake of not being pressured back onto either, I hid it under the excuse of “not wanting my students to find me” but genuinely realized that it was a distraction from my walk. I constantly have friends try to rope me into getting back on but I’ve stood strong thus far. If People are an important part of my life and help hold me accountable, then I already stay in contact with them. For the most part we all already stay in contact with those who pour into us and who we can minister back to. Otherwise all of those “friends” are just a temptation to pull you back into the “old” you (atleast for most people). Myspace and facebook become a technological way to stir up familiar spirits inside of you i.e the spirit of gossip and judgement. Now this ties into Collossians for this weeks sermon but I digress.
…or the time to finish writing your book 😉
Thanks, Pastor. Great move. There is much to be said for simplicity and less knowledge of the mundane.
So, true, Ramon! I need to get back at it!
facebook sets us up for dissapointment often. No human has the capability to invest into that many “friends” in a way that is valuable. It gives you a false since of friendship. It also puts an immense amount of pressure on some people to keep up with ALL the information and EVERYONE’S birthdays, dissapointments…etc.
It is really too much some times. I am not sure that I am going to jump ship just yet, but I am in the life boat! Great blog babe!
Glad to know you are blogging again. 🙂
A study by Oxygen Media and Lightspeed Network claims that over one-third of women between the ages 18 to 34 check Facebook as soon as they wake up, before even heading to the bathroom. Researchers also found that of the 1,605 women surveyed, 39 percent call themselves “addicted” to the social networking site and 57 percent admit to talking online to friends more often than in person. Here are some more shocking stats from the study:
* 50% of Facebook users think it’s totally fine to be “friends” with complete strangers.
* 58 percent use their account to keep tabs on “frenemies” and nearly half think its fine to use Facebook in order to keep an eye on a boyfriend.
* 42 percent of women think it’s fine to post pictures of themselves “visibly intoxicated”
* 79 percent think kissing in pics is acceptable.
* 9 percent of women have broken up via Facebook
* 24 percent of men have done the same (broken up via Facebook)
* This could have something to do with the fact that 6 percent of women use Facebook to “hook up,” compared to 20 percent of men.
I’ve stopped posting as much on FB. It seems so many people post what they are doing, name dropping or what they ate for lunch (boring). You are 1000% right that you cannot truely pastor people through it and that people are “meaner” on it(willing to write things they would never say to your face). What I have also encountered is that people take things so seriously on FB and it’s not even “real life”. Come on people. It’s so easily misenterpreted. yes, I am still wasting time on it…no self-righteousness about it…I like playing games. Where else can I beat my mom at Scrabble?
mercy me!!! what statistics! Glad I’m not part of them…..even tho, I do use facebook.
Good stuff Robin! I find myself in numerous of your statements and have recently been feeling a lay fb down but instead of laying it down totally because i need to be on with my kids. I will tell you my little trick that I do but not on here to still have all my contacts but not have all of them in my business. It works quite nice. I figure if someone wants to get to know me then they will make an effort like I do.
well said robin…Paul said…”forsake NOT the assembling of yourselves together..” assembly is not the internet…the internet can be used as a resourcful tool…or…an avenue of the devil to take control, as you said, hiding behind tech…and not being real…then…spiritual darkness can creep it’s way in through the internet, if not used properly..God bless! Very much enjoyed your comments!….joe patrono
I agree, it is a big time waster, as a matter of fact there is so much technoloy out there that you can benefit from or it can monopolize your life and be used as a tool from the enemy to keep you from exactly what the Lord wants you to do. There are so many other things God can use in us…including just sitting still or in your closet and pray, camp out on the word or call someone and share with them….OR it can be used as a device of the enemy to pull you away from interaction with real people and conversation with neighbors and with the fellowship of the saints. I found my day would have passed by and no goals were completed, mainly my time with the Lord and actual converation on the phone with my children. I do like to check it but the desire has weaned and I only now want to see what is happening with my family and friends that I don’t get to see as often…otherwise I have decided to pick up a phone and wait to hear from God….
ive ust deactivated my account.. i had 280 friends and only spoke to 4 or 5 on a monthly basis.. i would post comments and videos on my wall but the limited reposne drew me into feeling rejected. i had enough and decided i need to get off this facebok.. Ive more real friends outside the internet and i agree with the above…
thanks you for showing me their are others that go thru the same thing.
God Bless.
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