Why YOU need to deactivate your Facebook NOW

http://youngandthrifty.ca

People have been accustomed to oversharing - bombarding other people's newsfeed with the most mundane of posts. They have been living the saying that if there are no pictures then it did not happen. But they tend to generate a plethora of images which can be put together to form a collage - they tend to overdo it to an alarming extent.

People have a way of documenting everything that happens in their life. From the moment they wake up until they sleep, the smallest details are always included on their daily updates. They would never forget to inform you of their ‘healthy’ breakfasts and choices making you regret the lechong paksiw you devoured before going to work earlier. They also would never fail updating you of their whereabouts specially that flight they had to Japan the other day with their 121 hashtags and their living-the-jetsetter-life sort of captions.

Some people are taking selfies more often that if you visit their timeline and scroll down through their vanity shots it will be a stop-motion video.

People have become attention-seekers - anticipating likes on their latest profile pictures and videos. Some will go beyond by asking you to like or share their posts wanting them to go viral. Others are comforted by posting their rants, problems, and even political insights online - explaining that posting these is an emotional outlet for them. I mean, I don’t have anything against people venting out on facebook, but doing it on a regular basis is really just irritating and unreasonable. Not everyone wants to know everything you’re going through. Because likes and reactions will never solve any problem. Talk to a real person. That would be more helpful.

People have been so engrossed with social media that they focus more on the contents of their timeline rather than what is happening in their real life.

They miss out on things that are more worthy of their time and show people how perfect their life is.

They pose with their cool OOTDS but are uncomfortable to even walk a meter with their high heels.

They pose with all smiles from ear to ear after a concert but they were really tired from holding their phones to record the event forgetting to experience life as it unfolded.

They instragram their food while forgetting to enjoy the gastronomic experience and the fellowship with their friends. Because why not? Their friends are doing the same exact thing.

They live-tweet everything and miss living in the moment.

All of these observations led me to deactivate my facebook account for a duration of time. I tried disconnecting for 7 days. It was therapeutic. And then I continued for 30 more days. It was an eye-opener of an experience. I went back to facebook with a fresh perspective of what social media is and isn’t.

The problem lies with having to prove you live a luxurious and perfect life on social media when in reality your life is as flawed and imperfect as the next person. No one is perfect therefore no one has a perfect life. 

Life is too short to put on a show especially if it's your life we're talking about. Life is meant to be lived. We need to live in the moment - not as an spectator but as the main actor of our "story”. We don’t need to put on a show just to please everybody and get their attention. Our life is ours to live. Not everyone needs to be a part of it – only a few ones.

We need to cherish every moment we are given and every people we share our lives with – our family, friends, and loved ones.

If more people would only realize what I learned from my facebook hiatus, life for them will be much simpler. And if they’d come up to that realization and act upon it with a positive mindset they’d be focusing more on what really matters to them. They’d be living a life worth living, remembering and reliving.