It’s been more than a year since I deleted my personal Facebook account and my life is still great and normal.

photo courtesy of senseimarketing.com

The decision to delete my personal account was triggered when I did a little social experiment when I removed my birth date from FB. See full post here. 

The experiment was an eye-opening experience on my part because I finally embraced the truth that social media friends are not your real life friends. I stepped away because I realised that at this age, what I really want is a meaningful and true connection and not a temporary one.

I no longer want to share my personal life with people who don’t genuinely care, rather only snooping on what’s the latest in your life.

I no longer want to share my personal life with people who don’t genuinely care.

As a blogger, social media presence is very important. However, I chose to put control on the things that I share about myself and so I came up with an official page for my site. It’s as if I packed my bags and went to a different, yet similar place to establish my presence.

It’s a place where I feel that I can be myself and not forced to follow people just because they followed me (similar to a friend request). It became a very personal space where I can show my creativity and skills, without the fear of being ridiculed by the people I personally know.

Since the deactivation, I have a very intimate number of friends, 5 to be exact (and that’s excluding family), whom I chat with every now and then. 5 versus more than 400 people on my old friend’s list is way out of proportion, but if that is the number that represents real  and genuine friendship, I don’t mind.

Maybe I’ve outgrown the sort of, fear of missing out (FOMO) because I no longer use my precious and limited energy to even care about the latest buzz on someone else’s post or life or who went on a grand vacation, got the newest car or house.

Minding your own life and thing is way cooler and better – SERIOUSLY. You may agree with me or not but social media will always be a potential ground for jealousy and comparison which then translates to gossip and so on and so forth.

A year without Facebook kept me away from uninvited stress from scrolling my feed, unwanted personal dramas included.

A year without Facebook made me realise that I don’t have to overshare; to better value my privacy above all.

A year without Facebook taught me the meaning of real relationships.

No regrets. No turning back. I’m ditching my personal FB for good.

Again, it was a personal decision but with or without social media, learn to focus on how you can be a better person, learn to love the things and value the genuine people in your life. Lastly, learn to be inspired by other people’s success rather than competing with them.