I Broke Up with Facebook

Have you ever been in a relationship that you knew was bad for you, but you just couldn't stop thinking about your partner? You check your phone constantly, hoping to hear from them. You think about them when you should be working. You miss great moments with friends and family because you're on the phone with them.

I just got out of a relationship like this - with Facebook. That's right, people! I closed my Facebook account.

Now, I'm not someone that used Facebook obsessively. Or, so I liked to think. But lately, I was noticing an upsetting trend. I'd be writing an article for RE Technology or pushing my daughter on the swing or talking to my husband about his day at work - and at the same time, I'd have my Droid in my hand with the Facebook app open, doing that familiar index finger swipe down the newsfeed. I didn't give a you-know-what about 99% of what I was seeing, but the truth is my attention span had become so excruciatingly short that I had to be doing at least two things at once to feel satisfied. I craved input, and social media is "Input Lite": all the stimulation, zero thought-provoking calories.

It all came to a head when my daughter sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" all the way through for the first time. It was such a beautiful thing, her tiny little voice stumbling over those sweet words, her proud smile when she realized what she'd done. And my first instinct was to post about it in a private parenting group I belong to on Facebook. Ick! I repeat: ICK! When did being "in the moment" stop being enough for me? Do I really need validation from near-strangers to feel satisfied in life?