FB: A Love/ Hate Relationship

I'm sure I am not the only person who simultaneously loves and hates Facebook.

About once or twice a week, I decide and wonder if I should take a "Facebook" break. Take a few days to step away from the social media space and focus on the present everyday interactions of my life.

Then someone I know posts some bit of great news I may have not heard about if not for the connection on Facebook.

Or my kids do something completely adorable and Facebook is the easiest way to share with family members far away.

Or I could use a bit of advice, and my fellow Facebook friends give me some direction or help within an hour...

Then in a moment of boredom or a desire for connection in the middle of a long day, I scroll through my newsfeed. I read updates of families who lost precious babies and children after a long fight of some affliction or disease.

I see some one else's kid conquer the very thing I've been struggling to get my kid to do, to no avail.

I hear more political bashing of a system that has no end in being "fixed" anytime soon, and the empty cries of outrage continue with no one to hear them but... us.. on Facebook.

All of a sudden instead of this being a pleasant form of escape during a dull moment, my experience has turned into a reason to feel sad, discouraged, and worse than when I started to scroll through the news feed to begin with. To quote Brene Brown in a book I am reading "It was neither relaxing nor productive  - it was just a giant time and energy suck."

So I ponder and ask myself, maybe I should just quit Facebook for a few days? Stay away. Focus on the present and everyday interactions of my life.... save my energy and spend it relaxing and focusing on something productive.

Then someone I know posts some bit of great news I may have not heard about if not for the connection on Facebook.

Or my kids do something completely adorable and Facebook is the easiest way to share with family members far away.

Or I could use a bit of advice, and my fellow Facebook friends give me some direction or help within an hour...

Ummm, wait... isn't that just the same pattern repeating itself over and over? I'm afraid so.

So here I sit, stuck in the middle, both loving and hating Facebook. Both  complaining about it and then sharing my blog post on it.

Go figure. While I've made no permanent decisions, I am trying to get on Facebook less, to limit the "giant time and energy sucking part..."  But still get on periodically for the happier, news sharing, advice getting, blog reading, cute picture update parts of it.

We'll see how that goes.



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