Facebook was fun. I liked it a lot. I learned from experts in fields I’m interested in, and I reconnected with people I’ve known since I was born. But I’m (mostly) packing up and moving on.
Most of this has to do with the changes they’re introducing. I’m not ragequitting — in fact I’m technically not quitting at all — but I might be tooooldforthisshitquitting. The older I get, the simpler I like things to be, and then I’ve also hit my limit on increasing privacy concerns.
I’ve felt more and more disconnected as all these new changes are supposed to enhance our experience. I can see from the scroll on the right people whose updates I want to see, the ones that no longer appear in my feed. Yeah, I know, I’m sure there’s a setting for this and a setting for that, and then new ones crop up and — yeah, I’m done. I can’t expend the energy any longer to accomplish what I want to do.
I’ve fallen in love with Tumblr, which I tried out this week before I change all my Facebook settings to “Only me.” (I don’t want to delete the account entirely since I’ve got this page, my other silly page, and editing duties on Grassroots Skeptics to maintain.)
To me, Tumblr is a happy medium between the very limited communication but widespread connection of Twitter, and the ability to share all kinds of media without space limits from Facebook. The interface is smooth and clean, the settings are minimal but visual customization is infinite, and I can scroll downwards forever without anything stopping me from seeing every single post from everyone I’m following. It’s relaxing somehow, whereas Facebook feels crammed, creaky, and chaotic now.
I’m not backing away from contact; Facebook private messages should still work, plus Twitter and email and Skype and almost every other way we can interact. I’m not backing away from this blog, either, all appearances to the contrary. I’m changing both my attitude and my intake of social media, is all. My tumblelog, dispatchesfromexile.tumblr.com, is now where everything I used to share on Facebook will go. This will still be for longer, better sourced (sometimes!) and more thoughtful posts. And my intention is to make up the time I’m saving reading and commenting on Facebook for other activities, like writing for other projects that I have seriously neglected. I want to get back into making music as well, something else that’s fallen by the wayside.
So for now, I’m going to take a cue from the Muppets, and I hope you’ll join me there. (No, not on the slopes.) Please let me know who you are if you follow me and I ought to be following you back!
