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Relationship over

Today is my 20th wedding anniversary and I am ending a relationship that has not shown me much benefit.  Well, let’s say less positive benefits and more negative benefits.  I am invested but it is time to move on.

I am not talking about the relationship my wife and I have.  It has been a glorious and wonderful 20 years of marriage and a few more years of courting and friendship before that.  I am talking about my relationship with Facebook.  On September 15th I decided I had had enough of the negativity and am deactivating my account.  In the past I have deactivated it a few times, only to go back in a few days or a week or so, but this time I leaped to cut the tie and end it permanently.

Upon deletion of the account, Facebook gives you a 30-day notice that the account will be deleted.  I term this either cooling off or change your mind phase.  Within those 30 days, you can simply sign in and restart the account.  I am in that period as I am writing this.  So what happens on October 16th?  I am hoping I will no longer exist in the Facebook world.  I will however still live on the internet for eternity.

So why did I decide to do this?  There is a multitude of reasons.  First, I found myself spending endless amounts of time daily scrolling through the feed of “friends” that I have not had any contact within decades. The scrolling provided little benefit and wasted time for me.  Next, and probably the most important, is the massive amount of negativity on there.  There is the political aspect (I have “friends” that think Trump/Bevin/McConnell are the devil and others who think they walk on water).  Next is the religious aspect.  I am a non-practicing Catholic, but still, celebrate my Christianity in my way.  Again “friends” who use every opportunity to attack the Catholic Church when they can, and others who ‘preach’ that religion is the only thing that matters and solves every problem.  Then there is a sexual orientation.  I have LGBT “friends” on Facebook (some I have known for decades and some for a handful of years), and of course, those that don’t support that lifestyle due to religion, fear, or lack of knowledge.  I can say I have unfriended most of the homophobic “friends” I had.  Finally, the elections are coming quickly.  The platform will be so heavily for or against one side or the other, it will be head spinning.  So I’m done.

I was told why don’t you unfriend or block those that are causing the negativity.  Some of those people that are negative also provide many nuggets of positive material and wisdom.  For me, it is best to just let it all go.  I’m out.

I will miss many of the photographers, and groups I follow, or shall I say followed, on Facebook, but as I continue to use Instagram and YouTube, I will be able to get what I need from these photographers.  I will not miss the political rants, racism ramblings, pictures of what people had for lunch/dinner, or everyone’s ‘entitled’ opinion about everything.  October 16th is my first day of parole from Facebook.  I am happy and don’t think I will miss it.

Until next time

Tim

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