So I deleted the Facebook app from my phone and iPad last night, and ironically enough, life has seemed to go on. Perhaps virtual dependency of a faux social life is beatable without the feeling of alienation after all. Even funnier is how much that little “f” (very appropriate Facebook) on my phone screwed up the symmetry of my icons, and now my cellular chi is balanced.

I had been thinking about taking said drastic measures for some time now. I wondered if it would hurt business, or if I would feel like life is passing me by, not knowing if one of the people I used to go to high school with had two burritos for dinner. So far no, I don’t miss it at all. My decision to delete the app was bolstered by the great kindness of political season we have going on. Now I know you can say, “Blair, don’t delete the app, just delete the people that are saying things you don’t like”, but therein lies some of the problem.

Facebook’s social interaction is the real life equivalent of going to a single’s speed dating night and expecting to hear the truth. Better yet, I think that diagnosable conditions are forming from people that have an addiction to it. Who doesn’t have a friend or six that want to tell the world how good they are doing or what new designer jeans they got, only to be downright depressed an hour later when the Starbuck’s line was too long? Like some kind of social network bipolar disorder.

The other argument I heard for keeping the little shit on my phone was, “Blair, it will help your business”. Photographers, I will be honest, Facebook really doesn’t help your business all that much. The real life notion that you get what you pay for holds true on the internet, and with Facebook being free, you’re going to get a whole bunch of free work. The only thing that Facebook has done for photographers is made them feel slightly more significant when some girl they found attractive  in high school “Likes” one of the photos they took of a sunset with their iPhone.

So into the future…. I just want to say that this step was one of moderation. I still have my Facebook page and will check in time to time on the computer, hence posting this article. However, I really wonder if this might return life to slightly pre 2002 when I talked to friends on the phone or actually had lunch with them? For now I will settle with taking the “f” off.

PS:…. what the hell is a Poke?