I have been wondering if I have an addiction to Facebook. I can’t seem to not go there at least a hundred times a day, check out my friends' status updates, add a few of my own, and click on those tempting links that take me to funny videos or to news headlines that make me shake my head. And of course, I have to return to Facebook to post my impressions of said videos and head-shaking news.
This morning when I started my computer I immediately opened my browser and went to, you guessed it, Facebook. You would think I would have made it my home page by now, but I haven’t. I am resisting the final step towards truly admitting my downfall.
Back in March, I finally decided to give Twitter a shot and now I have twits to contend with and, no, I don’t mean my fellow twitterers, although the person who had an intriguing lead-in to his “article” and sent me to a porn site is certainly a twit.
I was a late bloomer to the Twitter world because I just didn’t want to get sucked into another vortex that would consume my time and take me away from writing. In my decision to work on being a writer I realized I wanted and needed to build an online presence. I have seen the benefits as new and unknown people are reading my words and any anxiety I have felt over “exposing” my mental world to the public has begun to lessen, but I am also noticing the detriments of being so plugged in.
I find myself using social media sites as a crutch whenever I get stuck in writing or editing, and when I allow myself to seek the comfort of my online friends, hours go by. It feels like a couple of minutes but when I respond to a laugh-out-loud post at 9:00, blink and look at the clock, I am always surprised to see it’s 11:22. That’s what happened to me yesterday. I gave myself two minutes to beat myself up over the loss of time and then I got to work, but in the back of my mind I became worried.
Why is it so easy to slip and click open my favorite websites? Am I avoiding doing the work of writing which, quite honestly, can be hard, challenging, and not that pleasant when you’re feeling stuck, or am I truly addicted to social media? This morning as I scrolled through the newest updates, I asked myself if I could forgo going to Facebook and Twitter for a week.
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