My minuscule experiment: "Stop Using Facebook" Challenge

"Driven by challenges", I can't remember how many times, I have used this line to describe myself. Imagine my surprise when I ended up being annoyed by them. To put things into perspective, those were challenges my friends and relatives were posting on their facebook timeline. All it required was to upload an image, use a black and while filter, and add hashtags. But it was none of my business, as they were considerate enough to avoid me, in any of such challenges. 

Nevertheless, I had to take some action, to alleviate my heightened emotional state due to me being a colossal judgmental dude. That was when I decided to take the "Stop Using Facebook" challenge.

How it Started

In retrospect, the challenges were the straw that broke the camel's back. The symptoms started showing with a new assignment at work, which asked protruding questions from me, every now and then, about my time management skills.

I'm what they call as anal retentive about self improvement and productivity. If I had been in the fastest car in the world, I'll not just drive with my heart in my mouth. I'll be constantly tweaking the speed to see where I can get the maximum fun with no nausea and dizziness. But that's just who I am and I have learned to live with it.

So here I was, staring at Zuckerberg's invention with gaping eyes, for I was the victim as well as the culprit. I was guilty of spending a lot of time (unproductive & unintentional) on Facebook. I woke up and the first thing I did was to check it (after the mandatory morning leak). After going to bed I checked it till I doze off. And I checked it all during the day too, while I was in a cab, in a loo, in a lift, in a restaurant, whenever I was on a break.

Facebook was eating away approximately 2-4 hrs of my day everyday which amounts to 21 hrs every week give or take few hours. But what is wrong with endless scrolling on Facebook ? It is a good way to stay connected and socialize, isn't it?

The Abyss of endless scrolling

My take- Facebook is more addictive than smoking a cigarette.

The closest analogy which I can give is that of the Queen in 'snow white and seven dwarfs' asking the magic mirror - "Mirror, Mirror on the wall". The compulsion and intent is similar if you do a bit of soul searching and observing. What started as a will to connect with lost friends, classmates, far away relatives and socialize with them soon shifted to an accessible abyss of endless scrolling.

Much can be written about social evils and good of Facebook. I have seen a guy using it to cope with his depression after an accident left him bed ridden for a few months. I personally consider it as a good thing for people who rarely see other people(people that they care about). But that is a much broader topic to write about.                        This is about my personal issues with Facebook and how it all went downhill as I started consuming content on it. Full marks to the Product team for designing it in this way, to drive the compulsion of people.

I was getting news to read, articles to explore, videos to watch all in one app and I was getting them even when I didn't wanted it. I was just scrolling and passing my time, without any purpose, and that is what was wrong with it. I was mentally unprepared for all those cute cat videos on my timeline.

The Turmoil within

Jokes aside, Facebook was making me stupider.

My creativity had no room to maneuver except about status updates. The accessibility and intrusiveness also expanded my capacity to make wrong kind of judgements about others. It was also fueling my narcissism. My attention span and the font size of the books that I have in my library were getting shorter by the day. I was not learning anything new. I was not challenging my brain. I was in an infinite loop of information which was not adding any value to my life or my lifestyle.

In the end, I was like a purposeless wanderer who goes through a mid life crisis but think of it as a life changing ordeal.

So I called it quits but I didn't kicked my habit cold turkey. After 2 months of hesitation and introspection, I made the final call. It was an act full of cowardice as my account is still active and subconsciously I still feel that I may relapse. After all, there is no urge as bad as the urge to share milestones of life on Facebook.

The Aftereffects

But it is 1 month and 3 days now since I un-installed the application from my smartphone. Let's look at some of the progress I have made.

The feeling of guilt is all gone. I may not be able to quantify this but I have been on top of things like cheese is on a pizza dough. In the past 1 month, I have finished 5 fiction & 1 non fiction book. I am playing chess puzzles, reading articles and going through news (all on my smartphone) in the time where I use to scroll my facebook timeline.

Surprisingly I am also able to make out time for playing my favourite game, FIFA.

All these things are happening in the 21 hours I freed up every week by completely ignoring facebook.

Conclusion

In hindsight, it looks like a trivial thing and let me tell you, it is. Just ask the 150 million facebook users of India.

For me, It was a case of making a conscious check and I was surprised it took me so long. Anyhow, it's never too late. It is important for one to be cognizant of one's habits as habits make a man. John Irving said “Good habits are worth being fanatical about.” I say "Bad habits are worth being concerned about."

If you feel that this was all about nothing and you are an avid Facebook user, try the "Stop using Facebook" challenge and introspect whether it made any difference in the quality of your life after 1 month. Just remember to resist the urge of sharing this on Facebook with your friends.