Feb. 22, 2012 marked the first day of the 40-day Christian celebration called Lent. I am Jewish and therefore don’t know much about the holiday, but I have heard around school that people are encouraged to give up something for the holiday, and some students have chosen to give up Facebook. You are not alone, trust me.
On Jan. 9, 2012 I suffered a tragic loss– I deleted my Facebook. I know that I seem dramatic by claiming that I’ve suffered a great loss, but this was truly a big part of my life. Others can vouch for me in saying that Facebook is a wonderful website that sometimes can consume hours of your night.
My biggest reasons for the deactivation of my account were finals and my sickening infatuation with the website. I was so addicted that I couldn’t focus on anything else and was even conversing with about the website with people at school. I feel that when a person can’t stop thinking about a website, they should know there’s a problem. For those of you sharing my pain I have devised several tips to get over this addiction.
My first attempt to forget my obsession was to take on another social networking site: Tumblr. Tumblr is a blogging site that I find to be less addicting than Facebook. This site mainly consists of intriguing photos taken by the site’s users, as well as uploads from other sources such as Flickr, Twitter and Photo Bucket.
This site is different from Facebook since there is no chat feature and a lot less drama. There is still a way for site users to communicate, which is mainly used to compliment other users’ blogs (unless you’re Tumblr famous of course). It allows users to showcase their creative abilities and express their thoughts. Unlike on Facebook, people are able to share their opinions without being judged. Instead, they are praised for their work. Tumblr is a wonderful substitute for fellow addicts.
Tumblr is not the only replacement for Facebook. If you enjoy abusing Facebook’s status update feature, Twitter is definitely for you. Twitter is a site for those who like to constantly let others know what they’re doing as well as stay updated about what others are doing. In a Newsfeed-like format, users can see all the posts of the people or organizations they follow. The cool thing about Twitter is that you can follow celebrities’ actual Twitters. On my Twitter right now, I can read everything Mac Miller has posted in the past five hours. The ability to have a sneak peek into the lives of those celebrities that some of us consider role models fascinates me.
If you have deleted your Facebook, and wish to do something more productive, here are a few more tips. The first thing you should do is actually get some homework done. I know it’s tempting to sit in front of the TV or the computer, or to just sit around and text your friends all night. I learned the hard way that doing nothing leads to nothing, and I don’t want my readers to learn that lesson the same way that I did. This is useful for everyone, but is especially directed towards the freshmen. Get off of Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter now on weekdays so that you don’t make it a habit to procrastinate on your homework. Developing these good habits early will pay off in the long run. Trust me.
Of course if you’re having trouble beating your Facebook withdrawal, distract yourself by checking out northstarnews.org.
