• October 9, 2012
• 2

The Thief of Joy

One of the cool college things to do is to get a Facebook account.  It is an awesome way to update your friends on what is going on in your life, to network and connect with people who are far away.

This week I deleted my Facebook account.

I know what they say: “Deleting Facebook is the adult version of running away; they do it to get attention, but they’ll be back soon enough.”

Well, my reasoning is a little different than that.

I read some online articles this past week that have caused me to rethink some things in my life. As an introvert, I like to have time alone to evaluate things about myself that need improvement. The articles made me think about how and why I spend my time online. I know that Facebook is not inherently a bad thing, but for some people it can become something negative.

College students are in the stage of life where they are still trying to fit in and desperately want to be accepted. Though I may not like to admit it, I am a college student through and through. I want to be respected, liked and enjoyed by others. A lot of people evaluate themselves as being liked or not by comparing themselves to those around them.  One of the mediums we are susceptible to doing this through is Facebook.

One of the articles I read was called “21 Secrets for Your 20’s.” A couple of the “secrets” dealt with Facebook. The first tip was to never check Facebook when you are lonely, depressed, unemployed, struggling with being content with your single-ness or anytime after 9:17 p.m. This might seem basic, but it is not something college students always consider. Sometimes Facebook is just a time-killer when you are bored, but sometimes we use it to fill an emotional void.

A friend of mine has a self-imposed rule about not talking to boys on Facebook past 10 p.m.  This seemed very wise to me, because if you think about it, it is typically at night when people get lonely. Not only do we say things we might not normally say when we are lonely, but we also see everyone else’s posts through loneliness filters and think that everyone else is happy with their relationships, friendships, weight loss, cooking skills, cool photos, etc.

Another tip from the article — we should not compare ourselves to other peoples’ Facebook pages. Whether consciously or not, everyone is putting a PR spin on their page. They do it to show off the best versions of themselves or even create someone they are not.

So I’m not saying that everyone has to delete their Facebook. However, I encourage everyone to be wise about their time online and to think about why they use websites like Facebook. It can help make your college experience more enjoyable if you choose not to compare and to enjoy being the original version of yourself.

 

Here are is the article mentioned above:

http://allgroanup.com/adult/21-secrets-for-your-20s/

 

Another good read is:

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/relationship/124819984.html?refer=y