Why I left Facebook Forever

So as of tomorrow,  I will be leaving Facebook, for the second time actually. It will also be the last time. A friend recently brought to my attention how much she was not enjoying her Facebook experience and was contemplating beginning a campaign for everyone to lie on Facebook. At the time she had brought this idea up, I had actually argued in favor of the now dreaded FB saying you can use it in the manner you want to and personalize your experience. Facebook is the tool, you are the wielder. Which is still true. You can be as open or as private about your Facebook profile and usage as you want.

However, later that night  I was writing a letter to another friend and I came to a realization. Facebook is like empty social calories. It makes me feel like I've had a lot of social interaction. I mean, I know what everyone from my graduating high school class is up to these days. But it does nothing to foster closer relationships, and in many ways, prevents me from doing so myself. I don't bother writing letters or e-mails to friends just to talk to them because Facebook's news feed makes me feel like I already did that. I get my fill of social interaction without any of the nutrition.

So I began making plans to leave, and Monday I'll be using http://suicidemachine.org/ to help me do it. Something that Facebook apparently hates because it might violate a user's privacy. That's just silly. We all know that it's Facebook's policies themselves that violate user privacy (or so some have claimed). Or maybe they're upset because they can't log information about me for advertisers or the government (Ready for a dose of 1984? Watch this video). Guess I'm not the first to jump on the "Get the **** out of Facebook" bandwagon.

I'm hoping that in leaving Facebook, I'll be more focused on keeping up with the people in my life on a more one-on-one basis through e-mail and letters. I used to know what my friends thoughts were on things because we talked about them. Due to Facebook induced laziness I now only know what they're doing. Keeping up with friends individually takes time though, and I still need to figure out an effective way to do it. So I also started this blog here, so that people can still check up on me and see what I'm up to. Plus I'm hoping for the added bonus of keeping track of my projects in a public forum will compel me to FINISH more of them.

So Good-bye Facebook, Hello Blogger.