kicking the habit

So I am free wooooo. I have left Facebook.

So why have I left?

It is easy for me to jump on the privacy band wagon.  I do agree that the Facebook privacy policy has a shocking record, with the introduction of face recognition technology (I have already been very clear on how much I dislike being ‘tagged’)  which has been deemed it a violation of privacy rights in Germany and with the threats for from a few MEMBERS of anonymous (note anonymous leader has disowned project Facebook)  to hack the social website  on the 5^th November but as someone with a on-line blog, google+, twitter, Reddit  and just giving page (link) it would be a little transparent if I sighted privacy as my ONLY reason for leaving .

Leaving Facebook had been in the back of my mind for a while and when my account was shut a few months ago but I would always make excuses:  all my pic’s were on there,  no one would contact me anymore, I would be out of the loop.

My bigger concern with Facebook was the way I was using it. I would constantly check it to see what people ‘were up to’  (which was usually nothing)  get distracted from a film I was watching when my iPod bleeped.  

I started to feel that I was waiting for other people to do stuff so I could be entertained. Sitting on my arse waiting for friends to update their status’ with stuff they were doing in the real world instead of getting up off the sofa and doing something myself. PATHETIC!

I am not sure why I became so reliant on checking my Facebook so much it only really increased in the last few weeks. I suppose I was bored.. I did not have a show on,  I was bored at work I came home and lethargy hit me and instead of being proactive (beyond my daily schedules  tasks of making tea, hunting or funding, look for flats ) id just sit and check Facebook.  I am not proud of that fact.

I also got sick of being told I need to be on Facebook, and being conditioned into thinking that it is the only way for friends to keep in touch with you online. I have a close friend that is not on Facebook and I still know what she is up to – in fact because of her twitter I probably know where she is more of the time than half the people I know on FB (thank you 4square!) –I still call her and meet up – I remember her birthday without having to be prompted on Facebook, which is something that she did touch on as she did not get as many birthday wishes this year as she did last (when she was on FB) – makes you think  how meaning full a ‘wall’ full of happy birthdays actually is. My point is she has ‘survived’  with out Facebook and she is not some hermit that sits at home alone and weeps into a pillows because she has not friends that contact her.

I know that you may be questioning my move to google + - is that just not another social networking site – yes but It it only part of what i use the google network for  a start there is this blog, I use goolgle docs, calendar,  of course search, Gmail and  I use chrome  (which had a very handy app to transfer my pictures from Facebook over to  my Google profile in one easy step)– it is handy to have all my internet needs unified.  Also there are not as many people on the networking side of google+ yet so it is less about what you have had for tea and more ‘hey look this is pretty interesting read this!’

Call me a hypocrite if you like I can live with that.

I did not really start this blog with the intention of justifying my decision to leave Facebook and making it into such a big deal but its seems that is the way it has turned out.

It may seem strange to that at a point in my life when I am leaving my friends and family I would choose to move myself from the EASIEST most popular  way to keep in touch with them all…. But I see it as a great opportunity to set aside proper time to keep people up to date and hopefully it will make me a little more regular with my blog posts!

I may be back, I may create a new profile, I am not sure yet, we will see. All I know at this time is that my life is changing. I am  going to go from a job, wages and 9-5 office tedium to workshops, long days, no money and the joy of doing something I love every single day , in 3 weeks  I will be in London following my dream!  What do I actually need Facebook for?