My family and I just got back from a great vacation in South Florida. Besides going to the beach daily, one of my biggest goals was to disconnect as much as possible from my iPhone, my laptop, the internet and, particularly, from social media sites like Facebook. To that end, I left the laptop at home, left the iPhone in my hotel room, and…I did the unthinkable–I erased the Facebook app from my smartphone right after I posted my one and only photo–the one you see here–of the view from our room while updating my status to: On vacation… finally!
I erased the app from my iPhone because I knew that was truly the only way for me to disconnect completely and not be tempted to check Facebook whenever I had some time to kill. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to live without it.
Amazingly, I was not only able to survive without Facebook for 10 days, but I've been back for three and I still haven't really checked it. And, the best part? I've decided not to re-install the app on my iPhone. Why? Well because, for me at least, the app is a complete time sucker.
Read more in ¿Qué más?: Will I be able to survive without the internet for a week?
Don't get me wrong, it's not like I think Facebook is evil, like some people I know, and while I've toyed with the idea of erasing my account forever, I'm not really going to do anything like that. Not because I can't live without it, but because Facebook is a great tool to keep in touch with friends and family (especially those back home in Peru) in one centralized place. Plus, as a writer, it's a great tool to promote and share the stuff I write.
The main problem for me is that I feel like it's become an addiction. On some days, it's the first thing I check when I wake up and the last thing I check before I go to sleep. Not to mention the countless times I'll go to it when I'm supposedly trying to kill some time, but I'm really just checking to see if someone has made a comment on something I've posted or to chismear un poco and see what others are up to. But the reality is: who cares?
Now that I've proven to myself that I can live without Facebook–albeit only for about 10 days–I think I'll be better able to manage my time on it. We'll see. I'll keep you posted. But probably not on Facebook!
What do you think about Facebook or other social media? Would you be able to live without it? Do you have the app on your smartphone? Share your thoughts with us by leaving us a comment below.
