I Finally Understand the Shift Away from Facebook
I very clearly love social media. Anyone who is friends with me on Snapchat knows that I take a lot of pride in streaks and what Emojis are next to my friend’s name. I regularly post photos on Instagram and share funny things with friends through the messages feature. However, over the past five months I’ve started to appreciate the art of keeping things private. Or if not “private” at least not plastered everywhere for the whole world to see.
Our culture has shifted to focus on sharing and capturing every detail of every day. I know this because I do it. But I’m happy that I can tell I have cut back on social media. I doubt other people notice it since I still share so much on Snapchat but my Snapchat has a much smaller audience that Instagram and Facebook. Most of my posts on Facebook now are links to my blog or photos from a trip or holiday. I have no desire to post about politics or share with hundreds of people something special that was said between me and a family member or close friend.
Oversharing is a very real thing and I believe it is rooted in a desire for acceptance and praise. I know there are studies on it and thousands of articles written about it but they have a point. When people post on Instagram, they want to get a lot of likes. When people share on Facebook, they want engagement and congratulations. Twitter is there for retweets. I appreciate that Snapchat is just for sharing. It doesn’t demand someone to comment back and tell you how great you are. And I am still human and I want my friends to see what neat things I am doing. There are parts of my life that I want to share because I am so happy that I can’t keep the emotions in sometimes. However, I don’t find the need to share a private exchange about something nice said between me and a relative for hundreds of people to see.
I don’t know. I’ve been annoyed recently with some of the intimate posts I’ve seen on my Facebook feed. Isn’t it nice to keep things private? Doesn’t it make it more special? Do you really need to tell everyone on Facebook what you said to your child? I completely understand now why the “younger” generation is leaving Facebook. They want to share photos and experiences but they don’t want to share every single part of life. I’m not saying one is better than the other per say. But I’d much rather share a photo of me and friends or a quote from a book than write a long Facebook status update about a personal exchange.
If you just got engaged, please share away! Or if you had a great birthday party or vacation! I want to see those pictures and share those experiences! I want to see your ring and the smile on your face after you’ve committed to sharing the rest of your life with someone you love! Those are incredible life moments that deserve to be shared. If I’m lucky enough to have those experiences I sure as hell will post them online. However, I don’t think I’ll share it seconds after it happened. Or even hours. Maybe a few days would be good. I posted photos from Europe because I have so many family members on Facebook that have never had the opportunity to see what I have seen. But I think it is important to keep private exchanges private. Don’t ruin the intimacy of relationships by plastering it online for all to see.
And if you are reading this you are probably thinking, “oh wow, how hypocritical. She is sharing personal information for the world to see on Facebook.” But, most people don’t actually know what is going on in my personal life right now. Only my close friends and family know the details. I haven’t updated many sections of my Facebook profile because I don’t need the world to congratulate and praise me. Yeah, in time I’ll update sections but I no longer need all of social media to make me feel appreciated and great. I’d rather someone send me a message and have a real conversation rather than just give me a like on a post. I genuinely am so happy with where I am in life and what I have been through and I think it is important to keep that to myself for a while. As Taylor Swift says,
“Nobody’s heard from me for months. I’m doing better than I ever was.”
