Facebook: The Good and Bad According to Me!
Yes, today I am breaking the one rule I made when I decided to blog, the one that says "Always include photographs," because frankly, I don't have any pictures fitting for my random posting tonight. Tonight I just feel like talking.
Facebook. A true battle of good and evil. I really love getting online, seeing what's going on in the lives of my family and friends, sharing what's going on in mine, being inspired by the photographers and writers who's pages I follow, and seeing the latest headlines from local news and of course, my favorite news outlet -- TMZ. But I have a confession to make.
There are some people currently on my friends list who's status updates I hide. (Eek!)
And it's not because I don't like these people, it's just that I get tired of people who are constantly complaining, and constantly whining, and who never have anything positive to say. And I can only stand so much talk about politics and political issues, regardless of what "side" they are on. I like to think of myself as a generally positive person, and so much negative talk brings me down. So I hide their statuses. But it's usually not forever. I will generally visit those pages every couple of weeks, to see what's going on and see what's new. And I've been known to "unhide" people when I've noticed that their attitude has changed and their posts are more...happy.
However,with that said, I will say that I have never hid anyone for view for posting too much. I have a few friends who post several times every day, most of them being relatively entertaining or thought provoking. I'm okay with that. It doesn't usually bother me. But I know that there are plenty of people that it does bother. I know there are plenty of people who hide people from their Facebook because they feel like they post too much. And I have a suspicion I might be one of those people that some of my friends "hide" from their Facebook feeds. And honestly, the thought of it makes me sad.
I know I should have thicker skin and not take it so personally either, especially when I have no proof that such activity is taking place. However, as someone who still has an overwhelming, and probably unhealthy desire to have people like me, I can't help but feel hurt by the thought.
That's why I've made a decision!
Sometimes, drastic times call for drastic measure. So sometime in the next couple of weeks, I am going to suspend my Facebook account and go "offline" (as far as Facebook is concerned) for a bit. The reason I don't have a set date yet is because my 20 year high school reunion is this weekend, and I don't want to miss pictures that get posted, etc., but this is definitely something I am going to do.
Not only do I hope it will do something for my bruised ego, but I also believe it will free up a lot of time that I currently spend checking status updates and "liking" pictures. I wish I could just back away from it. Set a one or two check a day limit. Remove the app from my phone. But I know me. I'm a Facebook addict and if it's there, I will check it. I have no will power and no control. I just need to go cold turkey. So that is my plan.
Maybe I'll read more, or maybe I'll write more! I have two photography courses that I bought off of CreativeLIVE.com -- Tamara Lackey's "Children's Portrait Photograph" and John Greengo's "Fundamentals of Digital Photography." There is five days worth of learning in the John Greengo workshop and truly has so much information in it that I could treat it as my own photography school. The best part is it cost me a LOT less than I'd pay for a "real" class, and probably teaches me a LOT more, all in the privacy of my own home. However, I think in order to truly do it and get the most out of it, I have to schedule it much like I'd schedule for a real college course.
What does all of this have to do with Facebook? Really nothing, except now I'm kind of excited about all of the time that I might GAIN by giving up Facebook for awhile. But can I do it? For someone who literally will check for status updates every few minutes when available, it's going to be difficult. But I'm also looking forward to maybe having some real interactions! Phone calls instead of messaging, actual birthday cards in the mail instead of Wall posts (although I'm going to be lost without my daily birthday reminders).
So to any of my Facebook friends who may be reading this and actually do care about the things I normally say on FB, fear not. I'm also hoping it will give me more time and more reasons to keep this blog more up-to-date! And never fear, unless I discover the true secret to happiness, I WILL be back to Facebook, once I catch my breath! I also plan to keep using my Twitter (www.twitter.com/nkrone) and Instagram (NKrone), if you still want to keep track of my day-to-day.
If nothing else, I'm hoping my time away from Facebook will give me a little perspective, a lot more free time, and a little more peace so that I can take in what's left of summer, cross more items off my summer bucket list, and spend a little more time loving the little things.
Facebook. A true battle of good and evil. I really love getting online, seeing what's going on in the lives of my family and friends, sharing what's going on in mine, being inspired by the photographers and writers who's pages I follow, and seeing the latest headlines from local news and of course, my favorite news outlet -- TMZ. But I have a confession to make.
There are some people currently on my friends list who's status updates I hide. (Eek!)
And it's not because I don't like these people, it's just that I get tired of people who are constantly complaining, and constantly whining, and who never have anything positive to say. And I can only stand so much talk about politics and political issues, regardless of what "side" they are on. I like to think of myself as a generally positive person, and so much negative talk brings me down. So I hide their statuses. But it's usually not forever. I will generally visit those pages every couple of weeks, to see what's going on and see what's new. And I've been known to "unhide" people when I've noticed that their attitude has changed and their posts are more...happy.
However,with that said, I will say that I have never hid anyone for view for posting too much. I have a few friends who post several times every day, most of them being relatively entertaining or thought provoking. I'm okay with that. It doesn't usually bother me. But I know that there are plenty of people that it does bother. I know there are plenty of people who hide people from their Facebook because they feel like they post too much. And I have a suspicion I might be one of those people that some of my friends "hide" from their Facebook feeds. And honestly, the thought of it makes me sad.
I know I should have thicker skin and not take it so personally either, especially when I have no proof that such activity is taking place. However, as someone who still has an overwhelming, and probably unhealthy desire to have people like me, I can't help but feel hurt by the thought.
That's why I've made a decision!
Sometimes, drastic times call for drastic measure. So sometime in the next couple of weeks, I am going to suspend my Facebook account and go "offline" (as far as Facebook is concerned) for a bit. The reason I don't have a set date yet is because my 20 year high school reunion is this weekend, and I don't want to miss pictures that get posted, etc., but this is definitely something I am going to do.
Not only do I hope it will do something for my bruised ego, but I also believe it will free up a lot of time that I currently spend checking status updates and "liking" pictures. I wish I could just back away from it. Set a one or two check a day limit. Remove the app from my phone. But I know me. I'm a Facebook addict and if it's there, I will check it. I have no will power and no control. I just need to go cold turkey. So that is my plan.
Maybe I'll read more, or maybe I'll write more! I have two photography courses that I bought off of CreativeLIVE.com -- Tamara Lackey's "Children's Portrait Photograph" and John Greengo's "Fundamentals of Digital Photography." There is five days worth of learning in the John Greengo workshop and truly has so much information in it that I could treat it as my own photography school. The best part is it cost me a LOT less than I'd pay for a "real" class, and probably teaches me a LOT more, all in the privacy of my own home. However, I think in order to truly do it and get the most out of it, I have to schedule it much like I'd schedule for a real college course.
What does all of this have to do with Facebook? Really nothing, except now I'm kind of excited about all of the time that I might GAIN by giving up Facebook for awhile. But can I do it? For someone who literally will check for status updates every few minutes when available, it's going to be difficult. But I'm also looking forward to maybe having some real interactions! Phone calls instead of messaging, actual birthday cards in the mail instead of Wall posts (although I'm going to be lost without my daily birthday reminders).
So to any of my Facebook friends who may be reading this and actually do care about the things I normally say on FB, fear not. I'm also hoping it will give me more time and more reasons to keep this blog more up-to-date! And never fear, unless I discover the true secret to happiness, I WILL be back to Facebook, once I catch my breath! I also plan to keep using my Twitter (www.twitter.com/nkrone) and Instagram (NKrone), if you still want to keep track of my day-to-day.
If nothing else, I'm hoping my time away from Facebook will give me a little perspective, a lot more free time, and a little more peace so that I can take in what's left of summer, cross more items off my summer bucket list, and spend a little more time loving the little things.
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