"You did what!?"

Hello, everyone. I recently deactivated my Facebook account.

"What!? Are you kidding me? Your facebook account? Your one obsession? Your child?"

Yes. I had to.

I had been sort of wondering about it for awhile. And then, one of my classmates from English told me how she had deactivated hers for finals week. So i figured, "Ok. I guess it would be a good idea for me to do that, too, so I don't get sidetracked on Facebook for hours and hours when I could be studying..."

My last status update before deactivating was "Be back soon."

Come to think of it, though, I think I would be better off deactivating it for good.

I actually wrote my final English paper on the negative effects of Facebook on its users.

Two of the points I made is that it is time-wasting and obsession-causing.

I can say this from personal experience.

Thing is, there was a time when I actually did something in my spare time. I had hobbies. I used to read books. i used to write more often. Now, I barely make time for that stuff--even when there is time to spare. Facebook also distracts me from important stuff--like homework, and studying. And even people sometimes.

What's worse, though, is that Facebook has become a source of loneliness, sorrow, and jealousy for me.

Loneliness, because there are times when, like, 30 people are online, and yet, no one comments my status. Or sometimes, I'm about to chat with someone and they go offline. Or there are times when I've even been ignored by people.

Sorrow, because I see friends posting pics of all the fun they're having without me. Or people just basically having fun in general. Going places. Doing things with their lives. While I'm usually stuck in this house. As a commuter, you miss out on a lot of college fun. I'm not even talking about drinking and heavy partying--I'm talking about the late night study sessions with your friends, or the birthday cake they bought so-and-so with the sparklers on it. Or the stupid prank someone played on their RA. COLLEGE stuff.

Finally, jealousy. Jealousy because one person posts a status and the entire country comments on it. Jealousy because one of your friends posts a picture and twenty people comment and remark how beautiful she is, while your profile pic got a "like" from one person--your biased boyfriend.

I know I'm not ugly. But it would be nice to get some affirmation once in awhile, you know? Like, a compliment? Even if it's on a piece of jewelry or something?

Anyway.

So, yeah. I think I've decided that--in the end--it's best if I just deactivate my account completely. I'm better off without it. If people want to talk to me, there's multiple other ways to reach me--email, texting, calling, snail mail, IMing, maybe even talking to me in person. Now there's a novel idea.