Seven weeks without Facebook! There was a time I would have never imagined that possible, but it did happen. I had felt like pressing the pause button on my life given the so many things competing for my attention these days, work, kids, work, patients, work, projects, work, relationships and yes more work! We do live in an age of information overload. Since I couldn't enter a bubble to get away from it all while vehemently rejecting a wooden box 6 feet under, Facebook was one of those which fell victim to my "downsizing".
Since I joined Facebook in....wait while I scroll down my Timeline to confirm.....Nov 22 2007....sorry fb didn't note the exact time (surprisingly), it quickly become a major part of my life. The euphoria that came with linking up with many friends and acquaintances was overwhelming and lingered long. I even got to meet some people who became my "friends" according to Mark Zuckerburg (see my perception on Facebook friends in an earlier blog post, Facebook Friends). It was like being in a big park or in a pub or even in church all at the same time with all your peeps in tow. I got informed and I got entertained. I did my bit of informing and entertaining too. I think I did more than my bit because I was VERY active. It soon became quite common to meet people, some of who I wasn't even friends with on Facebook, and they would say,"Dr Omololu, I saw you on Facebook," or "I always enjoy reading you posts on Facebook" or "how was your trip, I saw the pictures on Facebook."
Yeah, it did seem like I was giving out too much information and I had to adjust my privacy settings which I did. The football group I created, Joe's Soccer Pub, became hidden to hide my soccer madness, and only my friends saw my wall posts, notes and open activities. I still couldn't resist putting up pics of my lovely family and the few ones of me that looked good. Catching up on all the gist and posts from my you all was a stimulant thus Facebook remained a daily activity from the loo in the morning till just before I went to sleep at night. It was always convenient to slip out of the real world into my personal park, pub, church, etc. My "friends" count ballooned to over 1000 making it more tricky to follow all the gist on fb (I have over 200 requests of people I probably know still pending, while I wait for the likes of Chris Aimakhu, Odiri Idike and Deji Oluwole to join so I can add them. I'm also still waiting for Kate Henshaw, Cameron Diaz and Scarlett Johansson to accept my friend requests). I kept at it though and by the end of last year the brain congestion overload from Facebook and the real world reached the max. I thought of deleting my account but was scared I would lose it forever so I just logged out on all devices. I had deactivated email and other notifications from Facebook since early 2013 but this was a bigger step. Given that Facebook was probably my major source of a social life I was a bit unsure how long I could stay away so I didn't put any time limit to the time out.
Life continued. It was just as much fun and I had more time to do more things. I was able to focus on work better, spend more time with the family and friends physically, read, watch movies....and "Breaking Bad" (on season 4 now), play more squash, go out more and breath better as the din in my head had ebbed. Some crazy people in my blackberry groups sought to recreate the Facebook noise but ended up making music as sweet as Mozart, Chopin and Loose Ends.
I missed Facebook. Seems Facebook missed me too, because after 2 weeks absence I started receiving emails from Facebook trying to tell me what I was missing. It was kinda weird as I felt I was been watched by Mark and his brain eaters. Names of my favorites were clustered into the mails; Ade Olumide, Jagunlabi Okurinmeta, Bayo Ayanleke, Ladipo Soetan, Bala Yakubu, Labi Ogunbase, Ajagzy Omo Ogun, Julia Fortune, Raji Bello, Tokunbo Odubanjo and Dapo Otunla to name a few. I missed my groups; "Hey, Don't Forget To Live", "Old School Music", Joe's Soccer Pub" and "FGCL Ijanikin Earliest Sets", but I resisted the temptation to log on. I didn't feel ready. However I did set a date of return, 25th February, my birthday. I know there would be kind and thoughtful posts on my wall and I have to come and see them to feel good and respond.
My 1st Facebook post read," Not sure i wanted to get involved in this facebook thing but I'm here now so it had better be worth it. Meeting people and becoming friends is one the best gifts God has given us. Life could be a drag sometimes and we need each other to see it through.
Try to make someone smile every day.......you are guaranteed a smile when you do!" Wow, too much of a good thing can be bad, but Facebook has been worth it for me. As much fun as it is, Facebook can be subtly addictive. if you've got the bug like I had there may be a need to withdraw periodically and make some adjustments. Making this recommendation is the main reason for this Note. I'm writing this Note 3 days to the proposed comeback. By the time it goes public (to my friends) I would have been engulfed back into the Facebook world, but with more control from now on, I pray. I'm eagerly anticipating this as it will be nice to be in touch with y'all again.
I hope I can remember my password..........
No comments:
Post a Comment