Status Update

So, I know this will make me sound like the world’s biggest loser, but one of the things I decided to give up for Lent was my use of Facebook. I had realized that I was checking it several times a day and was spending an unreasonable amount of time looking at people’s pictures and status updates. As is my usual Lent practice, I chose not to give it up completely, but rather to limit my usage of it to one time a day. What I found in that first day was that I probably had been used to checking it 5-10 times daily. And for pretty much no reason. Whenever I would get bored, I’d open it up on my phone. If I was on hold at work, I’d open it up and scroll down to see what people were up to and who was interacting with whom. I had to remind myself several times that first day not to click on that inviting little blue icon staring at me and beckoning on my phone.

In the time that has passed between Lent and now, I have realized that by not checking Facebook save for one time a day (if that) I have not missed a thing. I liken it to my soap watching days. You could miss an entire week – make that month – and pick up exactly where the story had left off. Sure, you might have missed some minor details, but nothing would have moved forward or been resolved. That’s how it is with Facebook. The only thing I missed out on was what people were cooking for dinner or how much of their laundry needed to be done. I missed out on those clever little quotes people post with “So True!” hilariously posted beneath it. I missed out on people’s rants about Obama or the people positioned to run against him. In other words – I didn’t miss anything of substance at all. In the one time a day I was on there, I was able to see if anyone sent me any messages or anything and I was able to wish people a happy birthday.

It was really nice. I didn’t feel this insatiable need to be up on the details of everyone’s life. I was one of those people who initially thought Facebook was silly and wasn’t going to even have a profile. But the more I spoke with people who had joined who don’t generally like things like Facebook, the more I realized that it may actually be something I would enjoy. And I did enjoy it. It was fun to catch up with people I had lost touch with. It was fun to see their kids in pictures and kind of see what became of everyone. I thought it was neat who was friends with who. People who wouldn’t have spoken to each other in high school were suddenly “liking” each other’s status updates. Funny! 

When I joined, people warned me that it would be an enormous waste of time. How right they were! At first it was fun finding people and seeing who had found me. For that brief period after someone had requested your friendship, you had such power! You could either “confirm” that you wanted to enter into an online "friendship" with them or “ignore” (which really means “reject” in this setting) them to send a strong message that you thought you were better than they were and you didn't care what became of their pathetic little life.

So, during Lent I have mainly been using Facebook as a vehicle to remember people’s birthdays and I haven’t been posting very much. I’m usually good for about one status updates every week or two, but in the time that’s passed since Ash Wednesday, you haven’t heard from me much.  I've posted two pictures and made a couple of comments on poeple's timelines.  That's it.  The following are some examples of updates you would have had if I hadn’t given up Facebook-obsessing for Lent:

OMG – Snooki is pregnant! So happy for her. She will be a wonderful mother!

Yay! The Artist won Best Picture! Go Uggie!! <3


Has anyone tried Dulce de Leche Cheerios? They look so good!

I need Girl Scout cookies!

Snooki is engaged! Could things in the universe be lining up more perfectly?

Just cleaned out my closet. I will NEVER let it get so disorganized again!

What is up with this crazy weather? I want a winter! 

Mike is partying in Syracuse with Cloris Leachman! Totally jealous! She’s pouring him shots!

I can’t believe I bought this many Girl Scout cookies! I’ll never eat them all.

Loving this warm weather!

What is this crazy rash?!

With all of this talk about Whitney Houston’s daughter, I’m actually starting to miss Kim Kardashian.

I totally just ate an entire sleeve of Thin Mints!

Ugh! Wish these storms would go away!

Loving that my kids love ABBA music!

Can't wait for spring!  C'mon Daylight Savings Time!

In Utah on a ski trip. Perfection. Nothing could possibly go wrong here!

Can’t believe Delta lost our luggage! $5000+ worth of belongings – gone! :(

Ugh – why do we have to spring forward? Soooo sleepy!

 It’s too hot outside. Dreaming of fall….

Can’t find any of my spring clothes! Need to clean out my closet! It’s a mess!

If I hear Dancing Queen one more time, I’m gonna hurt somebody!

Anyone else have Girl Scout cookies? The McCallies are totally out!

Okay, I didn’t really get a crazy rash, but you get my point. No one cares about this stuff! Our society just has this ravenous need to be seen and heard I suppose. And I’m no better than the people who get sucked into it. I am the people who get sucked into it! I’m on Facebook, Twitter, and I have a blog. What is wrong with me?! I’m on Facebook to reconnect with old friends. I’m on Twitter to follow people I think are witty. I have a blog because I like writing and would love for it to have been a career I pursued. But does anyone beyond my little circle really care about where I’m going, what I’m doing or what I’m thinking? No, they don’t. But I can’t really tell you why I feel a need to share it anyway.

I guess we can thank reality TV for this trend – really a sea-change – in our culture. Reality TV put private people’s lives on display for all to see and I guess everyday people began to feel as though they, too, should be showcased in every possible medium. Think about it – who is on the cover of People magazine and tabloids when you are in line at the grocery store waiting to check out? Any or all of the Kardashians. Contestants from The Bachelor. The Real Housewives of whatever vapid community has spawned the plastic-faced, silicone-breasted insipid bitches. They are celebrities now. Entertainment Tonight reports stories on these people as thought they are noteworthy. Even the Today Show lends credibility to these people. At least once every other week, one of the top stories that they lead off with prior to their opening theme song will be an “internet sensation” who has eleventy billion hits on You Tube. The media simply perpetuates the idea that we should care about these people. So I think that leaves the rest of us somehow thinking that maybe we need to be out there, too.

So, we take our ordinary little lives to Facebook and we announce when a stomach bug is roaring through our household. Which, by the way, is a horrid visual that I don’t care to picture and I’ll thank you to stop posting about it. We let the world know that we are on vacation – which I did recently. Posted a picture of Mike while on vacation. Perhaps a better angle would have been to leave a sign on my front door that indicated that the occupants were out of town. Dumb. Anyway, we constantly let people know where we are, what we are doing and who we are with. Maybe it brings us a modicum of significance we think we are lacking. I don’t know. But going forward, I will not be as tuned into it all. It just doesn’t seem to add value to my life so it shouldn’t be a big part of my day.  I sure haven't missed it during Lent. That’s how I feel about it today. Of course, on Easter Sunday, you may see a post from me that says:

Back to habitual Facebooking! OMG, I’ve missed you all so much!!