Initially I found the ability to reconnect with old friends on Facebook to be wonderful. In the months after I joined, it seemed I was finding long lost buds every time I logged on. And once I found one, that led me to a couple more. It was fun. It was cool to chat with old friends, look at their photos and trade messages. I liked seeing how their lives had turned out. Facebook was fun. Facebook was great.
But over time it has become stale. Reconnecting with old friends who live far away has run its course. I am happy to know that they're all doing so well....
But just because we were once close doesn't mean we are close now. Once we've seen what each other are up to and said 'Hey', what then? Are we obligated to "Like" all of each others' posts? Does “Friending” each other on Facebook put us back into each others' lives? Are we supposed to start trading family vacation photos? When the initial fun wears off, it becomes a chore keeping up. There's probably a reason why class reunions are spaced out every five or ten years.
I heard Facebook was originally developed for college kids who knew each other and saw each other every day. That makes sense to me. You know each other; you're in the same circle of friends; you're familiar with each others' posts. That might keep it interesting. But the people I am closest to nowadays – and honestly, there are only a few - aren't interested in anything like Facebook. They don't want to swap photos or online posts. They want to come over, watch a game and drink cold beer. They don't want to see photos of my kids. They want our kids to hang out together. They see online social sites as giant security risks with gaping privacy issues. They see a huge time sink. "There's a reason people from your past didn't make it into your future". They're probably right.
So now I'm left with an obligation to log onto my Facebook account every week or so to answer an occasional message. I feel like a spy checking out the photos people post. I hesitate to comment on anybody's post for fear that they'll comment back and I'll have to log in to respond in turn. And naturally enough, nobody comments on my rare wall posts because I have for so long neglected all of their posts. It's a conundrum.
Being a Facebook failure feels worse than being a Twitter failure. Twitter never made any sense to me. It seemed like I was shouting out to a room mostly full of people I didn't know. And the text character limit meant any conversation was limited. Twitter is like having a conversation on a noisy subway train. You need to yell in short bursts so the person can hear you. And you know strangers around you can hear what you're saying. I flunked out of Twitter quickly.
It's time for me to retire from Facebook. I am publicly acknowledging my failure. Do I close the account? Is there a procedure for something like this?
