Saturday, June 21, 2014

No Facebook? How will we keep in contact?!!

....Just like we used to, before Facebook.  Email, phone, IN PERSON!!!! (WHATTT!?)

Over the past few years I have grown steadily dissatisfied with Facebook and I've flirted with the idea of deleting it.  There was the "Facebook Truce"  in which Sam once a week logged me in to Facebook.  Then there were a few times where I deactivated Facebook.  But this time it's actually happening.  There will be no more Kaitlin Pearson on Facebook as soon as I can gather everyone's email.  (If you haven't sent me your email address yet, please do so we can keep in touch!)  But why am I unhappy with Facebook?

 1.  It knows too much and it profits from it.  Browse for flights to Kazakhstan on Delta.com and suddenly all your advertisements are for travelling. Change your status to "engaged" or "married" and the advertisements will apply to that phase of life.  Not that I would know this or anything.
2.  It has done everything to become indispensable, and I feel trapped by the requirement to have Facebook.  Also it makes it extremely difficult to delete.  I know just from the few times that I have deactivated the account that Facebook will try VERY hard to convince me that dinosaurs will attack or the world will explode if I leave.
3.  I spend a disgusting amount of time on Facebook and have nothing to show for it.
4.  I can't imagine that I will still have Facebook in 10 years.  So I'm deleting it now and saving a lot of time I would have otherwise spent on Facebook.

Then why have a blog?

1.  We're moving to England.
2.  Our friends and family like knowing what we're up to.
3.  There's no "home feed" to scroll through, no pictures to look at besides what I have posted, so there is virtually no temptation for me to waste time on a blog.
4.  I only plan to update the blog every two weeks, maybe only once a month  (this is actually far more often than I update my Facebook status).  Even if I update every week it still will take FAR less time than Facebook.
5.  It will chronicle my life in a orderly fashion.  That is one feature I appreciated about Facebook and would miss.

So. Its all about time, advertising, and the social requirement to have a Facebook.  But I would much rather not be advertising fodder, and have a lot more time to live my life and spend time with you in person.  Hip hip hooray for real relationships that don't require an emoticon to convey feelings :)  See you in the real world, dear friends!