Tuesday, August 23, 2011 | By: Brianna

Facebook Fast

For the past couple years, my friend has given up Facebook for Lent.  Forty days without Facebook?  I thought she was crazy.  And deep down I knew I couldn't do it.  Mostly because when I log onto my computer, one of the first three websites I check is Facebook.  And even then, I can be innocently surfing the web, and I'll just naturally gravitate back to Facebook to see if one of those little red notifications has popped up.

After a good ten minutes on StumbleUpon, Brianna pressed CTRL + T and opened up a fourth tab in Google Chrome.  Without even thinking about it, she typed "fa" and Chrome finished the word she was about to type.  "Facebook."  The sign-in process is second nature with auto-complete for her e-mail address, and lightspeed typing of her password that she's used for everything since the eighth grade.


A little red notification attaches itself to the little world in the upper left hand corner.


The excitement builds as she mouses over to the notification.  Was it a comment on one of her cleverly worded statuses?  Was it a Wall post?  Or a picture?  Or a video?  Or was it a request from Mafia Wars?


Click.


"Someone has liked your status."

So basically I check my Facebook every five minutes for nothing.  I just can't convince myself that nothing's going to change!  As much as I tell myself nothing's going to change in five minutes, I can't resist.

Last year, I decided to go on a Facebook fast for a week to see if I could do it.  Completely cold turkey.  The week went well, but I realized it was impractical, because there were (believe it or not) people trying to get in touch with me via Facebook.  That realization brought me to the conclusion that I could fast during the school week.  Sunday through Thursday.  Because Friday's not technically a school day even if you have class...  Freeing up so much time, it helped me with my homework and my real social life, instead of my social networking life.

Today's the second day of classes, and I've decided that I need to do this again.  I'm going to have to write a paper for Senior Seminar, the longest paper I've ever written, and I'm taking three business classes that I'm worried about.  Not to mention I'm a senior and I deserve a social life.  So no Facebook for me during the week.  Let's do this!

Welcome to Facebook!

3 comments:

Emily said...

i totally agree... i went through a similar phase when i needed to stop using facebook, durring my last semester at school, i was spending so much time on it and it was a dysmal attempt (dont even think i lasted for a day)
so i made a pact with my friend to change each others passwords and only change them back once exams were finished... struggled for a month or two, but survived... somehow.. x

Brianna said...

To Emily -- I've had a friend change my password before, but I always got paranoid that she was going to change something on my Facebook.
Good for you for persevering for over a month! I admire your dedication, I only hope I can stick to it myself!

Emily said...

haha... I never really thought of that, may have to go back to a load of old comments. But she was also trying to quit so I'd changed hers too. It's all about motivation, you can do it c:

Post a Comment