The date I tentatively expected to wrap up my Facebook fast has come and gone. A funny thing has happened this time.  I am in no hurry to rejoin the conversation, which does not appear to have become less abrasive nor more edifying in the time that has passed. Perhaps it isn't quite accurate to say I am 'away' since I still pop over to share something in our little family group or to leave a birthday wish.  There was an actual feeling of withdrawal when I first deleted the app.   The same thoughts flitted through my head as I have heard so many others voice:

How will I keep up with the news?

Who will I talk to?  (bigger question if you are home based)

What about morale?  Stimulation? Rapport? 

Well, the best way to find out is to just press on.  Worse case scenario you just jump back in.  

What have I noticed?  First, it's true.  You'll be out of the loop.  I was already pretty close to the edge anyway lol. You won't hear about who did what – either on your small screen or on the big ones – until it is old news.  Or maybe not at all.  It is true that if you turn off the TV (which happened years ago) and you also sign off social media you will have to make a concerted effort to follow the news.  Or maybe you will go whole days without following it.  You might forget to be upset about things you can do absolutely nothing about.  If you have an engaged circle of curious and thoughtful people around you, however, you will be hard pressed not to be abreast of the breaking news and can readily investigate whatever seems to require your attention. 

Will your world then go silent?  On the contrary.  I have enjoyed some wonderful private conversations the past several weeks.  While the Facebook feed has been increasingly draining, the Facebook messenger app has been such a blessing. 

Did I get bored?  Oh my word, no.  We have had such successful school days, days so full we have a backlog of home/art/food/book/music  ideas.  Even with those hours reclaimed from social media there  is still not enough time in each day to do all we would like.  There is more than there was, though.  More importantly, each activity is leaving me energized and motivated to do other interesting things.  As a friend said, we do math (and all the other challenging tasks we do here) because there are solutions to those problems.  Few things boost morale like actually solving problems, even if they are small. 

Some of the online time I had has been rerouted to reading longer articles and revisiting favorite blogs. It turns out many of us have come to that same conclusions.  Slow reading and slow writing, as my friend Susan says. (Consider replacing some random scrolling with one of Susan's essays.  It is SO good to have her back.)  

I have gathered up a few of the articles about all this:

7Ways to Honor God by Limiting Social Media

Social Media Pro/Con

Why I Deleted the Facebook App don't miss her "what I did instead"

Why I Deleted All My Facebook Friends

10 Reasons I Deleted My Facebook

Since we aren't suggesting anyone go full-on Luddite here, here are some helpful considerations before hitting the share button:

4 Questions to Ask Before Posting on Social Media

Does it even need to go on social media…..

and when to embrace silence entirely:

because this might just be true….

 

"Don’t let ennui keep you digitally distracted. Fight the good fight."  more on that  here

“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Colossians 3:2