Hours were wasted looking through photo albums of people I don’t know, or reading through countless statuses on the news feed.  Without even realizing it, I was judging all these people, who were also judging me for what I wrote on my friends’ walls. How is this benefiting me? It got to a point where I’d spend hours at a time on Facebook without noticing, and my grades in school were beginning to drop.

Some of my friends decided they were going to deactivate their accounts, so I thought I’d give it a shot. I started off with just deactivating for the week and seeing if I could manage. I thought it would be a lot harder than it actually was.

Sure, I missed talking to some of my friends on chat and it was tough when I wanted to see newly uploaded pictures from last weekend’s party, but it turned out better in the end. I was able to spend much more time working on homework and practicing for the SAT. I’m in my junior year, so SAT prep is crucial. Let’s face it: Spending time on Facebook isn’t going to get me into college.  I realize now that I was just wasting time – time that could be spent talking with an old friend on the phone, instead of reading what other people posted to their wall.

By Thursday it didn’t care to go on Facebook when I was on my computer; I was breaking the habit. I still had friends who had Facebook and they would tell me about any news that I might want to know, like where a friend got into college.

Focusing my time on things more important than Facebook worked so well for that week that I have been doing it ever since. Truth be told, I haven’t completely cut myself off.  Monday through Friday I deactivate, and then once I finish my homework for the weekend, I reactivate. It’s nice that you can temporarily remove yourself from Facbeook. Thankfully, all of your information will still be there when you get back.

by Becca C. | 2/1/2016