Skip to main content

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

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Love to get your feedback on what you read!

Popular posts from this blog

Nova Scotia - Day 5

Day 5. September 29, 2022. Today would be a bit of a longer day of travel, but we saw sights that surprised me. I guess I now know why Nova Scotia means New Scotland. The morning began as normal, but this time packing up our stuff to head to the next location. We had a Merci chocolate bar, and our receipt was left for us by our host. Our first stop was breakfast. We heard about a place that served breakfast, so we backtracked to Portside Lounge and I had the best pumpkin spice French toast I have ever eaten. Marcie got the same but couldn’t finish her portion, so extra for me. Our first destination was Cape Forchu Light House . It is a lighthouse like no other. The light house sat high on a rocky hill and is at the bottom of Nova Scotia. I remember looking out at sea and thinking that if a boat went straight, it would not hit land until the Bahamas. There was a visitor center (closed) and walking paths around the place. There was even a pole with destination markers on it. Everywhere ...
Post a Comment
Read more

A gift from a friend

Photo by: Tim Bindner Photography Recently I received a gift from a friend.  It was unexpected but it meant so much.  A simple gesture, an act of kindness, a show of love and friendship. I met Miranda via Instagram based on a recommendation from my buddy Mark.  Like most things, he recommends I seriously consider and highly respect his suggestions.  This was true to form.  I began following Miranda on Instagram, Facebook and even viewing her website.  I stuck up a few online conversations and got the nerve to ask her for an interview.  I wrote about that here . Eventually, text and online correspondence led to a few phone calls.  I admired her work and even discussed creating a book of my own and she admitted wanting to do one as well.  Specifically, I saw two pictures that I loved.  My passion for nature, especially trees is well known.  When I saw this photo (single tree) I was floored.  I even asked her if I could buy a copy.  Nothing really came of that.  I then saw another photo ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Halloween scare

Photo by: Tim Bindner Saturday morning, I headed out for a short hike at Mt. Saint Francis. My legs were recovering from the previous day’s walk around Cave Hill Cemetery, so I went somewhere close. I made the 4.02 hike, but learned some things along the way. It was still dark when I arrived in the parking lot. My car was the only one there, and I liked the thought of being completely alone. As I walked a familiar route down toward the lake, the 38 degree weather invigorated me. My lungs filled with the cool air and boosted my energy. As I got closer to the lake, I could see steam rising from the lake, and quickly captured this shot above. I again chose color to shoot today, due to the beautiful leaves that provided me with a perfect canvas upon which to shoot. Today I brought my older model Fuji XT-1 camera with my $25 vintage lens. I felt it was appropriate and hoped this older camera and lens would provide me a fresh look to one of my favorite trails. The trails weren’t...
Post a Comment
Read more