The Living Facebook Project: Day 1

Today was my first day in sometime without Facebook. I woke as normal with my iPhone ringing as my alarm. While I adjusted to losing one hour this past weekend, I still managed to gloss over my emails and  twitter feed after I hit snooze. I noticed the giant blue 'f' on my iPhone homescreen and decided to move it into a folder. I then decided to delete it all together and download it again next week.

I found myself tempted several times throughout the day to check the site. I also started to realize that my attraction to facebook was on the level of watching reality television. For some reason, like most of us,  I'm drawn to human flaw and awkwardness. I find this a lot on facebook. It's like all your friends standing out in a field yelling their problems, their triumphs, their favorite quotes, etc, but none of them are wearing pants. It's loud, and awkward all at the same time. And honestly, no one really cares, we're just all looking for affirmation. Facebook, and any social network is about us. It's trying to be there first; It's trying to be original; It's trying to be the coolest kid in school; It's trying to achieve some type of pseudo legendary status among your closest friends. It's vain.

My first day without facebook was not about trying things I usually do on there in real life, but more about seeing it for what it is. Facebook is a great place to connect, and reconnect with friends and family. It's a place where I can connect with my parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. all in one place. It's a place where I can easily plan a dinner party and remember a birthday. It's a place to kill time and share links, photos and videos. It's a place where I am 'friends' with my Mother. It's a place that I can easily let go.

Facebook is nothing new. It's not original, nor is it revolutionary. Facebook has been happening for years only in different forums and through different mediums. Some of our oldest ancestors were writing on walls long before Mark Zuckerberg's great, great, great grandparents were born. My first day away from facebook helped me remember that facebook is not something I need, but just another podium from which we can all yell.

Tomorrow I hope to make some new friends and I hope they can suggest some new friends that I may like. Stay tuned.