To Facebook or not to Facebook...that is the question.

If you are a friend of mine on Facebook you will probably have noticed I've not been on there much of late. I have been lying low. (Perhaps you didn't notice, shows how insignificant I am! And there I was thinking you were waiting on my every status update! lol )

I like to give up something for Lent each year, usually chocolate or snacks but this year I decided that I would (not entirely) give up Facebook.

I couldn't quite give it up all together like a friend of mine did. I admire her for it! But I certainly haven't been sat there, scrolling through photos and posts. I have simply checked for messages or the odd notification.
Since getting my smart phone just over a year ago, it seems even easier to just 'take a quick look' at Facebook...and before you know it, half an hour has passed and the girls are asking me what's for tea!

I realised that these 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there all add up and really, I could be doing something more useful with my time. My friend has dedicated the time she would have spent on Facebook getting closer to God and spending time with Him and time with her family. I have found more time for prayer and family too, just generally not feeling so consumed by 'the internet'.

I haven't missed the scrolling down and seeing pointless posts (sorry, but at the time I gave up, neck nominations were filling my news feed and once you've seen one, you've seen them all!) but I have missed seeing friends photos or seeing their status updates sharing good news or happy thoughts.

I have to admit to peering over Phil's shoulder as he scrolled down his news feed just to see if there was anything of interest to me! If I am honest, I am rather nosey at times and Facebook is rather good for that!
But don't we all like to have a peek into other peoples lives...?

But it's fair to say that Facebook can sometimes be a 'rose tinted' version of a persons life. They will put up the 'happy snaps' and the 'good news' but the reality is maybe somewhat different. We can share what we want to share and people can perceive what they want to perceive and perhaps a lot of it is 'just for show'
I would like to point out that my friends come across as very genuine, this is not my opinion of them! But I do feel Facebook can be used in that way, to make life look all 'hunky dory' when perhaps it's not.

In fairness I guess I don't always want to scroll down my news feed and read the moans and groans of life but at the same time it keeps it real. After all, it's that persons Facebook, they can share what they like...I can always skip past that status although it is hard not to read them.

I am going to be really honest here and confess that before now, I have 'hidden' people from my news feed because of their negativity...I like to think I am a compassionate and caring person but when you get a person who constantly writes negative status's, it can be trying.
Not very Christian you might think. Don't get me wrong, I do care and will keep them in my prayers but don't always need to know the smaller details.

And the worse status's of all are those leading ones...
'I can't believe it!'
The comments soon fill up with 'What is it?' 'Hope you're ok?' 'Personal message me'  etc etc
Grrr...Just bloomin' well tell us will you instead of writing a status that teases us. lol

Facebook is not all bad. It really helps me keep in touch with family and friends and I enjoy hearing their news. It has helped reacquaint me with people and  it has also given me a platform to share my blog and also share with friends my news.

If it wasn't for Facebook I would never have 'met' some of the wonderful people I am in touch with now, people I have never met in person but I can quite honestly say, they mean something to me, I have a connection with them and class them as true friends.

I have had a relationship with Facebook for 7 years now and on the whole I think it is a good thing. I will be keeping it in my life for now, perhaps just limiting how I use it.

Now, as for Instagram...well that's a whole other blog post! lol