OPINION: Why I Left Facebook for Good – Almost

I recently made a difficult personal decision. I stopped using Facebook and I'm never coming back. This is why.

First, I want to say that I am not an anti-tech person. As a matter of fact, I'm a certified computer technician and love playing with new gadgets. I've had so many different kinds of laptops, I've lost track. Just trying to make the point that I'm not some old codger that shuns new stuff.

Here's what happened: I did a little self-examination of where I'm at in my life and I didn't like how it seemed like I was doing things just so I could go on Facebook and share it. It was almost like high school where you do what you can to impress and/or entertain people to be popular. I didn't like it in high school and I don't like it now.

I found myself almost constantly scrolling through my news feed to the point where I wasn't really living my regular life. That's really pathetic when you think about it.

I also didn't like what Facebook seemed to do to my friends. When I had the rare chance to speak to them in real life, they're awesome. When some of them hit Facebook, they become narcissistic political and social experts who want to lecture everyone on everything. Got news for you folks. I've never met anyone who had their opinion changed by something you said on Facebook.

A couple months ago I decided to stop posting on Facebook. No exceptions. No funny pics. No family updates. Just leave it alone. Oh, and I didn't go on Facebook to make an announcement of my decision either. I just left. Period. Exclamation mark.

Here's what I've learned: I found that I was more relaxed. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I'm more focused on my wife and kids and taking care of them and not concerned about being cool online. Note to self: you weren't really that cool in the first place.

I have to confess one more thing. I did not delete or deactivate my Facebook account. I need an account for part of my work and I do have friends and family that contact me through Messenger.

Do I recommend this for everyone else? Not necessarily. For me, it was just something I needed to do for me. Others have left Facebook due to privacy concerns. I've always known that when you share stuff online, you're throwing it out there for everyone to see, so that never really bugged me. I just needed to get back to focusing on experiencing real life and not worrying about getting "likes" for it. It's been a refreshing change and I never plan to go back.