Good Bye Cruel Facebook

Last week, someone on The Bump explained her reasons for giving up The Bump. It made perfect sense to me. Worrying about the lives of people you never see in real life can make you miss out on real life. We can all sit here and say "I just use Facebook to keep up with people." I've realized that there is a reason I didn't keep in contact with some of these people. Yes, there are people who are out of state or very busy that I truly am glad Facebook allows me to remain in contact. Those of you know who you are.
Facebook has, until now, never interfered with any aspect of my real life. (Those who need to know what happened know what happened. Sorry, it's beyond painful and personal.) I was careful about what I posted, having enough common sense to know not to post about going on vacation or even about going out for the day. No need letting 200+ people, some of whom I haven't seen in ten or more years, know that my house will be empty for an extended period of time. I keep all of my posts positive. People have enough problems; they don't need to hear anyone else's. I described my pregnancy and parenting in a positives. No one wants to hear about my morning sickness, stretch marks, struggles with breastfeeding, complications, or the fact that I could not see my own vagina for four months.
I feel that Facebook has done everything I needed it to do. It reconnected me with friends and family. It let me know which people from high school are more less overweight/ successful/ train wrecked than I am. It allowed me to compare myself to my ex boyfriends new loves. It has reminded me that some friendships can stand the test of time and distance. It has taught me that some friends are better as fond memories.
The only confession I do have is that I feel that I have not been reading or writing as much for myself due to Facebook. When Liam is asleep and the house is beyond clean, I tend to linger on FB instead of doing the things in which I formerly found great joy. I would much rather read or write for myself than learn who has bought gas at Shell, who is sick of being pregnant or having allergies, or who ate a sub for lunch. My journal that I wrote for Liam throughout my pregnancy was ruined in the flood and I have not even purchased a new one for him. I always imagined I would have these beautiful journals to pass down to him describing all of his milestones as they happen.
The people who are close to me will always be close to me. I don't need a social networking site to confirm that. There are some people I don't really keep in close touch with whom I enjoy looking at baby pictures of hearing about wedding plans, etc. That I will miss but I am learning that FB is just more trouble than it is worth. Thanks for the memories!