Facebook Shutdown: Backfired.

Not too long ago, I decided to unfriend 300+ people on my personal Facebook page. I did this because Facebook was taking up too much of my time. I have 3 pages, 2 Public and one Personal. In order to keep my public pages, I had to keep a personal one. And, rather than create an alias (which I did do, but it felt inauthentic), I kept my page and a few people who I knew I could not unfriend.

As I unfriended each person, I said a prayer and sent gratitude and love their way. It was time-consuming, but I felt each and every person in my life deserved to be acknowledged.

Since I’ve done this, I’ve wondered often if I had made a mistake. When I logged onto FB to check my pages, I would check my newsfeed as well, and I often missed seeing what some people were up to. I missed having the connection and being a part of their lives. But one of the reasons I also unfriended many people was because I felt the interest only went one way. That most connections/friendships were one-sided and inauthentic and that never felt good for me. And so I contemplated. How could I stay in touch with people I loved, admired and enjoyed while receiving the same in return? Would it be worth it for me to re-add friends? What if I re-added friends and people we knew in common saw this? Would they feel rejected, left out, hurt by my re-selection process? How could I stay authentic to who I am and still be kind, considerate and respectful of others’ feelings?

I’ve been thinking about this for quite some time and I’ve concluded to just be me. If I’m missing a connection with someone, I can choose how to stay in communication and if I re-friend them, it is their choice whether or not to add me back. From there, we’ll just see how things go.

One thing I must do is acknowledge Facebook. While it is a time-sucker and can be a feeding ground for insecurity, it is also a great way to stay connected to our friends and family all over the world. At the same time, I still believe it is important to stay connected via real-time, either by meeting up for lunch, having a phone/Skype call and/or taking a vacation together. We’re here to be together, not separate, and if Facebook helps you to stay in touch with those you love, then carry on!

‘Til next time, thanks for reading and keep on BEING YOU!