I started Facebook approximately 10 years ago. In its early years it was an amazing site for connecting with people all over the country. It was so much fun reconnecting with people I was related to, grew up with, and had met along the way with our many career moves. I quickly became addicted to being on the site many times a day, checking to see who had stopped in to say hello, and to see the many pictures people were posting. I became so involved in the communication and sharing, I was not fully participating in my present day life, sad as that is to admit!

But, then, as time went by, Facebook intervened by introducing algorithms that interfered with which friends postings I saw, and which friends saw mine. It was not too noticeable at first because there was always someone I interacted with which kept the fun social aspect of it going. Slowly they introduced ads in place of friends posts. It got so that if I was perusing an internet shopping site, and then moved on to another site, both sites would present pop up ads on my newsfeed with exactly the item I had been shopping. Creepy!

I missed the amount of interaction I once had with my friends but stubbornly pursued it anyway, hoping against hope that things would change, which they did, but for the worse. I want to THANK Facebook for helping me break the most addictive habit I have ever had! When FB eliminated a lot my friends posts by choosing whose posts I would see, and which posts of mine my friends would see, it changed the beautiful rhythm we all once had with each other.. It wasn’t personal anymore and it sure was not fun.

So I started to get back into my life and get involved again. I was no longer obsessively checking my phone anymore and I began a blog where I can share my writing with random people and where I could store my writings for myself. I revisited my creative side and began doing fun projects around the house and yard. I began reading again and painting. How could I have let facebook steal my time like I did? It was quite the obsession.

So, thank you facebook! You helped me kick the facebook habit! When you chose to sell spots for ads on the site in place of posts between friends, I can see now that this was a genius way to help people like me finally move on!

Oh and the photo with this writing? It is a paint project I just finished for my courtyard. Such a fun morning that was!

Let freedom ring!

Jjb/7/ 25/ 2019