My Facebook Free Week

As a self-proclaimed Facebook junkie, I decided to go on the wagon and see if I could last a week without my favourite social media site. 

I am the classic Facebook addict. My social media addiction isn’t just limited to one website; if you want to get hold of me there’s Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube… the list is never ending! As much as it pains me to admit it, Facebook is my one enduring love. I am, as they say, in it for the ‘likes’ – that God-like feeling you get from getting a load of ‘likes’ on your witty status cannot be beaten!

Recently, it seems that everything I read about Facebook is negative. The BBC claims ‘Facebook use makes people feel worse about themselves’, whilst Psychology Today discusses ‘Facebook Depression’. As a massive Facebook user, my first thought was ‘oh dear’. So I set myself a challenge, to see if I actually could last an entire week without any of my social media favourites, and the golden question: would I be happier for it? So, come midnight last Sunday evening, I deleted all my apps and the Facebook fast began. Having put a status up on Facebook informing all my friends what I was doing, I knew the humiliation if I couldn’t last would be massive. Indeed, one friend even texted me just gone midnight with links to Facebook and Twitter…oh the temptation!

Like breaking any addiction, the first twenty four hours were the worst, I was going cold turkey. The involuntary Facebook twitch began at 5.30am Monday morning when, waiting for my bus (joys of commuting) I kept attempting to go on Facebook, only to find I didn’t have it anymore. The sweats kicked in about Monday lunchtime, when, sat on my own in the cafe, my mind began to wonder what was going on in my absence. By Monday evening my phone became an object of hatred, lying on my bed as I glared resentfully at it for keeping me away from my online world. Only about a hundred episodes of Breaking Bad and my Graze box kept me strong in these dark, dark moments.

The thing that surprised me as the week went on was how much I didn’t miss it all. After that first, painful day I found that the only things I actually missed were the ‘Topless Lad of the Day’ and my cute cat pages (easily resolved with a bit of Googling). Essay writing was, I’ll admit, a painful experience without half hour social media breaks every ten minutes, but getting a 1500 word essay written in 2 hours was a definite win. Being reunited with that old school concept of texting people rather than Facebooking made a very, very nice change!

I will admit, come Sunday evening I was fairly excited to be reunited with my Facebook account – especially the cute cats. Despite trying to pretend to myself that I was totally dandy without Facebook, there were a few low moments when I felt isolated from the world and just wanted to log on to see what I’d missed. Also, there were so many moments that would normally have been spent on Facebook that were now tragically empty, such as my evening radiator-Facebook-cuppa tea moments. Unfortunately, an addiction to the iPhone game TapTap (an iPhone guitar hero) seems to have taken over instead.

What is this Facebook that you speak of?

I made sure I had the apps installed and ready to go so that, come midnight, I could go straight back online. At precisely 00.00 Monday morning, I logged back in, being greeted by my favourite website with 2 friend requests, 2 messages and 20 notifications. Surprisingly my only thought when scrolling through my friends’ statuses, pictures and general banter was ‘meh’. Even my notifications failed to rouse any excitement within me, I just felt the familiar doom and gloom associated with seeing about a million perfect selfies rise within as I scoffed my face with Galaxy. So, I guess the articles were right. I really had been happier for not being on Facebook! That is until Sunday’s topless lad of the day popped up. Then I was very, very glad to be back.

Will I ever quit Facebook for good? Doubtful, even if only for the cute cats and the hot guys!

Have I been more productive without Facebook? Here’s what I managed to get up to instead:

– Scored 100% on all the free songs on TapTap
– Sent 358 texts to 11 people
– Added 3 new contacts to my phone (retro)
– Read over 200 pages of a book for uni
– Taken 9 selfies (oh dear)
– Drunk 14 cappuccinos (caffeine addiction is taking over)
– Spent £60 in Primark (woops)

…oh, and I even found time to meet Prince Charming!

Could you do a week without Facebook? Let us know in the comments.