WHY I QUIT FACEBOOK

I wasn't on Facebook from the beginning. It just wasn't my style to jump onto the bandwagon with the rest. As time passed, it seemed I really had to be on Facebook because all if not most of the apps are using Facebook to log in. I also wanted to get on it to understand how the platform works as part of work evolves around it. So a few years ago my Facebook adventure started.

I wasn't posting a lot, I wasn't most active on it. But as the number of friends increased and their activities increased with tagging me, my involvement seemed apt. It was fun to see the degree of separation and activities. What I enjoyed most were the articles from the liked pages. The content is good and I treated it as my daily dose of news and entertainment.

What really ruined that enjoyment was the bombardment of annoying posts from 'friends'. Sometimes one just cannot tell nor differentiate friends and acquaintances. Sure I know it. But what would you consider someone whom you have known for more than a decade or two? A friend? An acquaintance? How do you categorise them?

The annoying selfies that caption 'I look bad today', or 'I wish my hair looks this good everyday'...etc. All with filters from apps and retouching. But why do I need to look at unreal selfies and their narcissistic captions? And when you comment on those posts with something with black humour, they can actually delete those comments. So, how real is Facebook's portrayal of their lives? Anyone's life?

We keep seeing what people have ate for the day, beautiful flowers and things, outfit of the day, selfies, laughters with friends...etc. Some of them are interesting, many are what I call verbal or visual diarrhea. What is the significance of all of these? If there is any at all? We are all being portrayed by fake lives, the snippets of interesting facades, all filtered through photography apps and retouched to perfection. When will anything real come through Facebook? The real faces, the real stories, the real lives.

Hence, it is goodbye Facebook, at least for now before I have to get in touch with a long lost friend. Because, isn't that what it is supposed to be about? Not being a platform to portray unreal lives and ideals, and promote an unhealthy comparison between people.