goodbye facebook

yes, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. and rather than go through a number of examples to validate my point, allow me to just skip to my initial topic. i recently said goodbye to the growing online phenomenon known simply as "facebook". facebook, for those of you who might now know, is an online community that taps into the network of college undergrads and alums. validated only by valid college email accounts, you end up with a web of young professionals (kinda), who can browse for other people within and outside their own university. i think thats just about it in a nutshell. since it's conception though, there have been a number of little extras that have made facebook more and more addictive. and thus, arguably speaking, someone has successfully created the strongest college network known today.

so one can easily understand why i had to leave, right?

i mean, yeah, i was hooked onto facebook too. i created little photo albums and left funny messages on peoples walls and created a quirky profile and everything. i did it. and so did everyone else. hell, most of the traffic for this blogsite is due to the link put up on my facebook page. but in all honesty though, how much is too much?

for me, "too much" is when a website like facebook becomes an issue in my relationships with other poeple. when dudes get offended that i didn't add them as a friend, when they know and i know that we hardly even know each other. when women get upset because i didn't agree to the additional detail that we dated, because i don't count study partners as girlfriends. and when i get insulted by the fact that i send someone a message and they don't respond, and i clearly see that they have recently updated their profile. it's just too much. shit, i told someone that i deactivated my facebook account and their response was "woah, what made you do something that drastic!" what the fuck??! canceling an account with a networking website should be labeled as a "drastic" life change. killing your wife is a drastic life change. becoming a homosexual at the age of 67 is a drastic life change. having a baby with a haitian prosititute is a drastic life change. leaving "facebook"...who cares?

no one should, but thats not the case. since i've deactivated my account, a number of people have called me asking if i have blocked them. they were worried that they might have done something wrong or might have unintentionally offended me in some way. its really a sad state of affairs. but to its credit though, it is an great website. and of all the reasons that i possibly could have to leave, i am the main reason. i go and look at who's in who's picture, and who signed who's wall. and i allowed tags and comments that probably shouldn't have been there, and left some information out about myself that probably should have been there. i let facebook become an issue in my relationships with other people. or better yet, i might have even encouraged it.

so, just like strip clubs, smoking, and charmin tissue paper, i have to take a break from facebook for a while. i got addictied, like so many others. but, over time i have learned that additions aren't good for me. i just don't do well with addictions. and it always seems like i'm addicted to something. i wonder what i will get hooked onto next.