UnFriend

On June 22, 2013, I did the seemingly unthinkable: I deleted my
Facebook account. Yes, me, the social butterfly and gal about town,
eliminated the most popular social media forum in the world from her
life. And you know what? I have never been happier!

The original
inspiration for my deactivation was frustration. I was in the midst of
my third major fundraising effort and, while many of my “friends” were
taking the time to read my posts and donate to these causes, a great
many were instead asking me for handouts. What did they want? Oh, the
usual: Orioles tickets, jobs at family companies, and, in some cases,
just money (keep it classy). It was infuriating to see that these
people, some of whom I barely even knew, somehow felt that my greatest
cause to give to should be them!

I’ve deactivated a few times in
the past, but always with the idea that I just needed a break and would
be back. But this time it’s different. In the months that I have been
off the site, I feel myself breathing a sigh of relief. For one, it was
very time consuming. I mean, look around next time you are out with
friends and see how often they check Facebook. Secondly, people start to
take what they see on there as fact. For instance, someone could simply
make their status, “Becky slept with Kelly’s boyfriend!” and all of a
sudden now Becky has to prove she didn’t. Ridiculous.

But my main
reason for staying off will sound very ironic: I wanted more privacy. I
know, I know, the girl who writes a column about her life suddenly wants
privacy? Yes. And I believe I am entitled to it. In my column, I share
the details of my life that I opt to share. But on Facebook, I started
to feel like I was on a reality show. People interpreted things the way
they wanted and often incorrectly. They used my page as their own
personal soapbox, assuming that it would get more visibility there than
on their own page. And don’t get me started on the number of people who
have absolutely no sense of humor and force you to defend every remark
you make.

An additional upside is that if a guy wants to ask me
out, he can’t do it via Facebook now. (Although I still have gotten some
date requests via Twitter.) But all in all, I feel like deleting my
Facebook account has brought me back to the real world—the world I
prefer to live in, where people actually talk to each other and interact
in person. It may not be right for everyone, but I definitely “like”
it.