Pray for me people, quite possibly I’ve angered the Facebook Gods. I know, I know, this is serious business. I mean Facebook, right?
Secret messages have been turning up in my inbox— friends who have updated their status, uploaded photos, invited me to “like” pages. It’s a conspiracy of sorts, a cleverly devised plan to lure me back. I’ve been ignoring them all, closing my eyes and shutting it all out. Delete…delete…delete… I’ve been sending these Facebook messages into oblivion.
These days, I’m taking a bit of a Facation— a little break from Facebook if you will— because I sometimes find it a bit intruding. Don’t get me wrong, I love Facebook (kind of) and keeping up with my family and friends, but it’s far too easy to pop on for what you think will be a few minutes but ends up being much more. When that nosy factor kicks in I sometimes can’t help myself!
I was going to mention in a status update my intention to take a bit of a break but kept putting it off. I thought I’d let others know that I’d probably still update my author page but they shouldn’t use Facebook as a way to contact me if something needed a timely reply. I thought it would be the polite thing to do, but I didn’t get around to it and so I didn’t start my intended break. Hey, I can procrastinate with the best of them! But sometimes procrastination gives us time to reflect, a time to rethink our intentions. And low and behold, a few days ago someone’s status update had to do with this very same subject. Cool, right? Hmmm, maybe not.
To paraphrase the status it was something along this line: If you’re going to take a break from Facebook just do it. Don’t bother announcing it because no one really cares.
Oops! For a second I thought they had read my mind! But no, it was just my social media insecurities getting the best of me. Needless to say I didn’t bother to mention my intended break. Yet I couldn’t help wondering if people really do feel this way or if this was just one person’s opinion. I have often read status updates, especially from other authors, letting us know they were taking a break but I didn’t find it upsetting in the least. I actually thought it was a smart idea, not only the break but letting others know.
One of my beefs about Facebook lately, has been the sponsored ads that keep coming up into my news feed from people and companies I’ve never heard of. Also the fact that some people really show a lack of caring. I don’t particularly like to read negative status updates. But they’re there. Disgruntled people with gripes galore. While I do understand that people are sometimes frustrated by life, and the behaviour of others, I don’t feel as though Facebook is the right forum to discuss that frustration. However, it’s their prerogative. Luckily, I have no one on my friends list who are downright belligerent. I might be forced to eliminate them from my list if that were the case. And no one likes to be eliminated. Anyway, I’m planning to make myself scarce from FB for the next little while, not being dramatic or anything, but I’d really like to spend more time blogging. Oh yeah, and writing. I am a writer, right? Two books and about forty + short stories says I am so who am I to argue? At least not today. Maybe I’ll keep that argument for another day!
Do you take breaks from social media from time to time? Do you agree with my FB friend that you should keep your intended break to yourself and simply disappear? Do you think it’s a matter of courtesy to let your friends and followers know that you’re not simply ignoring them?
Laura Best 
Carl D'Agostino
/ May 23, 2014Yeah, lettem know. Took me a long time to create my network so never dismissive of loyals.
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Laura Best
/ May 23, 2014Sorry, Carl. WordPress put you in my spam folder. Go figure! I think you’re right. It does seem like the polite thing to do. I guess some people get upset no matter what approach is taken.
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Lynn
/ May 23, 2014Sounds good to me, Laura, but I don’t use FaceBook. I do like the idea of your blogging more and working on your other writing, though. 🙂
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Laura Best
/ May 23, 2014I also like the idea of blogging more, and of course writing. Facebook is fun by times but SO distracting. I seem to distract very easily. —-What were we talking about? 🙂
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Carol Ann Hoel
/ May 23, 2014I am an introvert. I wish I were not, but I am. Facebook intimidates me by the demands it makes as soon as I step out into the open. I don’t mind reading and “liking” and keeping up with my family and friends, but when I post a status of my own, I feel very vulnerable and afraid I won’t respond to someone else’s reply to my status correctly. I don’t want to hurt anyone, and it’s so easy to post words that may be misunderstood. Still, I do it, post replies and status updates, occasionally, that is, with the intention of doing it everyday. I never have yet done it daily for more than two days. It’s a viable way of keeping our books out there in the public. I wish I were a FB expert. I have an author page. I really do not understand how to use it.I’ll pray for you and you can pray for me, too. But don’t worry about the FB gods. The God of Heaven loves you and is never angry at you.
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Laura Best
/ May 23, 2014I so agree with you that words are easily misunderstood on the Facebook, or even email for that matter. I’ve sometimes fretted over things as well, hoping I didn’t say something to offend someone when I didn’t mean to. I’m more comfortable now that I was in the beginning. It took me quite awhile to figure out why people were even on Facebook.
I didn’t know you have an author page, Carol Ann. When I go back after my break I’ll look you up or do you have a Facebook plugin on your blog?
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Darlene
/ May 23, 2014I don’t spend a lot of time on Facebook but I check it once or twice a day. I use it to communicate with my son and my grandchildren in another province and my in-laws in another country. It can be distracting but I limit how much time I spend on it. There is writing to be done!
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Laura Best
/ May 24, 2014Facebook if great for keeping up with the family. It might sound as though I’m a bit down on it, but I’m not. I do know that my slow connection is part of my frustration. Right now I have some rewrites I want to get down and that has to take priority. Perhaps once they’re done you’ll see me back. Unless I get caught up in more rewrites. 🙂
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Darlene
/ May 29, 2014Good luck with the rewrites! We do need to set priorities.
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Carol
/ May 25, 2014My mantra is, “The Internet is addictive. Don’t let it grab hold!” Truthfully, I spend way too much time online. I usually check Facebook and Twitter at least once every day, but yes, I take breaks. Sometimes we just need a distraction-free time to focus on higher priority tasks (like writing). 🙂 I usually like to let followers know when I’m going offline but I also tell them how long the break will be, especially on my blog. If they keep checking for a new post, or keep leaving me messages and there’s no response, I assume they’ll eventually give up and drift away, which defeats the purpose of making cyberfriends in the first place.
Happy writing, and I hope you get lots accomplished during your Facation. (I like that term!)
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Laura Best
/ May 25, 2014Thanks, Carol. I have a few goals I’d like to accomplish during my facation. Hopefully, after that I’ll be back. Lots of writing waiting for me and it’s soon gardening time. The weeds have already spoken. 🙂
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ramblingsfromtheleft
/ May 31, 2014Laura, break away and enjoy it, guilt free. Yes, I take “facations.” I go missing for days, often a couple of weeks at at time. If I take a break in the blog, I do announce it, because I have an obligation to my regular weekly readers. But to take off and not go to Facebook makes sense. It can be a bit much. And it can also be a time suck.
I am not happy with the dozens of changes FB has made during the last year especially. I don’t know who people of ads are and I don’t want them on my Timeline. People I have as friends have disappeared from my TL and that truly makes me feel we are being used.
They have your number and they use it. So I use them when I feel like it. And since everyone and their Aunt Gertrude uses FB and Twitter to talk about so much crap, I don’t have a great deal of faith in them. Don’t twitter at all. And I use FB when I feel like it 🙂
Enjoy the break !!
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Laura Best
/ June 1, 2014Facebook is a huge time suck, that’s for sure.
People disappearing from our timelines, of yeah. There are people I NEVER see posts from. Pages are fine but FB sometimes only allows very few people to see your posts as it shows at the bottom of each post how many time lines it showed up in. That happens especially when you post a link back to say a wordpress blog. I don’t like that we’re being manipulated in so many ways. Most of us aren’t even aware of it.
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pattisj
/ June 7, 2014I like to check in once a day, but haven’t even been doing that lately. I check in to see what my family is up to, the day’s flavors at the local Skinny Dip yogurt place…I don’t usually put a message about a break on FB, but I do on the blog, and the posts are linked to FB.
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