Hey guys,

I haven’t gotten personal in quite a while on here, but there is something that I’ve really been itching to say to just about everyone.

DELETE YOUR FACEBOOK

I can’t recall how long it has been since I deactivated my Facebook account. Maybe a year, maybe more. It doesn’t matter either way. The point is I’m not on it, my daughter isn’t ignored by me because of it and when I’m out with my family I don’t get the urge to “post it on Facebook”. I live free from all that. Sure I have this site and other social media, but I’m not as involved as Facebook made me be. I don’t HAVE to post everything that’s going on in my life on Instagram or Twitter. I don’t write everything on here either.

The truth is, I’m really too busy for Facebook. I have a full time and part time job (reserves), I’m going to school full time, I’m a dedicated wife and mother… and whenever I get a breather I want to just read a book, or a magazine, or the blogs I subscribe to on my Feedly. All this is already too much. I wish I had more time to meet with my friends and hang out, but regardless at the end of the day I prefer to be in our little world at home, and my true friends understand this.

So anyway, this post is about why YOU should delete your Facebook. Don’t you have better things to do? I know you do, you probably tell everyone about it on Facebook, right? Maybe not, but it isn’t the point.

I remember being 6 years old and playing outside the house. My mom didn’t really have to worry (maybe she did and I was just oblivious). But I would sit in the grass, play with dirt, ride my bike to the corner store (okay maybe I did that at a couple years after). Life isn’t like this anymore (at least not where we live). BUT IT WAS AWESOME! I don’t dare let my 5 year old outside on her own. I worry she’ll be run over or kidnapped. So in our modern world, she plays Wii, computer games, watches Barbie movies, dresses up and makes a mess with all her toys in her room. And when I’m not doing homework or stuff around the house, I go out with her and we ride our bikes or walks and read and have picnics.

…I feel like I was going somewhere deeper with that, and I really wish my thoughts were more organized for this. But listen, I just want to say that there is so much more to do than share/look at pictures online or cyber stalk your friends. Live in the moment and be creative with your activities – don’t do the same thing week to week.

DON’T TAKE A PICTURE TO PRESERVE THE MEMORY – LIVE IT SO YOU CAN RECALL IT BY MEMORY.

Don’t catch yourself looking forward to “posting it on Facebook”. Be excited about experiencing the moment. And if you do feel it’s a memory worth taking a picture of, go to a Kodak machine, print it, and frame it for as low as 15 cents.

Here’s a list of why you should delete your Facebook:

1. Facebook wastes your time. 
2. Facebook uses you to make money.

• They use your information to cater advertisements and companies pay them to sell to specific “audiences” based on all the “Likes” you give and all your Profile information about you (whether you have children, are married, are male/female).
• “How will Facebook make money?“
• “Facebook IPO: Why Your Data Is Worth $104 Billion“
• “How much money is Facebook making off you?“

1. Facebook can disrupt relationships more than build them.
2. Your significant other/children/family/friends deserve more from you.
3. Facebook causes emotional harm every day. Has even been an avenue for people to inflict so much pain that teenagers have taken their lives over it.

and sure:

• it’s free to use (unless you are addicted to games, and even if you don’t by items they are making money from your usage) 
• you have found old friends you would’ve otherwise never gotten back in touch with (if it’s meant to be it would happen another way, right?)
• it has helped bring attention to worthy causes (there are other ways)

At first consideration, you might think, “What about all of my pictures?” or “What will I do about getting in touch with my ‘friends’?” but I assure you there’s a solution and other way that doesn’t need Facebook to be in your life. You can export your data. When I exported my data (which by the way I haven’t even looked at the photos and information since), I realized any corporate person who gave Facebook enough cash could do the same. YOU DO NOT KNOW what they are doing with your information – you really don’t have any way of knowing (regardless of their terms of service and promises to their “consumers”, okay!).

Of course it is your decision on whether you delete your Facebook (and other social media), but really pull back and think, “Why am I using this?”, “How does Facebook benefit me?”, “How does Facebook hurt me, distract me, fill in the blank?”.