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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be glad I've given up facebook....

172 replies

ssd · 18/01/2015 19:08

..no more people being blessed, no more married couples talking lovey dovey bollocks to each other online when they are probably at home on the same couch ignoring each other, no more kids in front of their 3 million birthday presents showing off, no more selfies, no more shite and boasts and and and....bloody facebook!!!

Grin and breathe....

its great, forget dry January, no FB January is much better for my health!!

OP posts:
hazeyjane · 19/01/2015 07:45

Hey guess what - you can stay in touch with friends/family via e-mail or skype. Why message through FB?

I skype and email my sister too, but fb allows me to send her photo albums instantly and it is quick and easy to do whilst doing something else, so it feels more like having her in the room.

Some friends are people who I have known since childhood, I don't necessarily want to write emails, phone, but it is nice to see their photos, hear their news etc, in between the rare times we get together.

Others are friends I have made online, and have never met, and it is a good way to chat and share common experiences.

hazeyjane · 19/01/2015 07:50

fb is what you make it. My newsfeed doesn't get the selfies or mysterious drama huns that everyone talks about, the only person who says 'feeling blessed' is lovely and I am truly happy that she feels blessed.

my favourites are the random fb quizzes - apparently my mystical creature is fairy, my colour is green, my name should be grace and my swearword is spunktrumpet.

TheHappinessTrap · 19/01/2015 07:56

I wish I had the lovely experiences that some report on here. I didn't have any bad experiences. I was just nonplussed by it, or at times annoyed to be copied in to things, or identified in photos, or the whole "friend" issue with people I was not genuinely close to, or the weird moments when people from the past got in touch and I would have preferred a different way of doing that. I was only on it for about 12 months but found it really didn't suit me. My OH has it and likes it so I get updates from him re family from time to time. I've never missed it.

KERALA1 · 19/01/2015 08:00

I joined about 6 months ago last straw missing a party as not realised we were invited as not on fb. Have few friends so high quality stuff done several things locally that I wouldn't have known about otherwise so on balance positive

wobblebobblehat · 19/01/2015 08:14

Yeah, I deleted mine ages ago. I don't miss it one tiny bit.

Just made me feel a bit inadequate.

funkybuddah · 19/01/2015 08:38

I'm surprised I haven't had social services called on me. I have never once shared one of those 'share if you love your son/daughter' posts. I'm always the 99% who wont share stuff about cancer, animal cruelty, war veterans, paedophiles which clearly means I'm in favour of them all.

Stinkle · 19/01/2015 08:46

I like Facebook, but I'm ruthless with the unfriend button.

All the people on mine are close friends or family. I never accept friend requests from school mums or anything like that

I live a couple of hundred miles away from my family and it's a quick and easy way of sharing photos

I've turned off notifications, blocked all those blooming game requests, I don't really belong to any groups. No drama!

differentnameforthis · 19/01/2015 08:55

no FB January is much better for my health

Yay! One less person telling everyone what to post!

ScathingContempt · 19/01/2015 09:21

My fb is fine. But that's because I only friend people I like.

Don't friend twats and then complain about fb. It's not the site, it's the people you choose to associate with on it.

x2boys · 19/01/2015 09:30

I have online friends too hazeyjane that you have never met in person! This is apparently another mn crime Hmm.

x2boys · 19/01/2015 09:30

I not you

Lilybensmum1 · 19/01/2015 09:35

I'm totally with you op gave fb up months ago and I have not missed it. I too felt like you I feel so much better without it. I spent far too long on it also sk another reason to give it up.

hazeyjane · 19/01/2015 09:39

X2boys.....I've now met a couple of my online/FB friends, and they didn't turn out to be hairy handed truckers, I was most disappointed.

MamaLazarou · 19/01/2015 09:43

People who give up Facebook (and then start threads about it) always seem to have the most insufferable 'friends'. I can easily understand how FB would irritate the hell out of you if your FB friends are so annoying.

So YANBU! I'm keeping mine because my friends are lovely!

x2boys · 19/01/2015 09:45

Ha ha did they not try and persuade you to join some bizarre cult ? Seriously though I don't get the snobbery fb is great for putting people in touch if you have a child with a rare.illness or disorder but its also a way of keeping vaguely in touch with old school friends or college friends that you don't necessarily want to meet up with or family and friends miles away etc .

Ragwort · 19/01/2015 09:46

Thanks for all the explanations, and yes, I know I shouldn't comment about FB when I spend so much time on MN Grin.

I am happy without it, I keep in touch with over seas friends via email/telephone calls (land line Grin) and that suits me. Smile.

PurpleCrazyHorse · 19/01/2015 09:55

I don't mind FB but I unfollow a lot of people. We're still listed as friends so I can see updates from them when I click on them but they don't show up in my feed. It's really limited my feed which has reduced the irritating things too Grin

However I'm now loosely in touch with a number of old school friends through FB which I probably wouldn't call or e-mail, so that's a real plus for me.

ssd · 19/01/2015 10:23

I dont understand how saying I'm giving up fb makes me smug...thats a new one on me....

I was only friends with people I like in real life, but for some reason they became competitive show offs on fb, hence why I gave it up......my close friends must feel like me as none of them can be bothered with it

OP posts:
Blanketontheground · 19/01/2015 10:28

Ohhhh I love the strange veiled comments about people I don't know, from people I hardly know. I find it quite funny, but it does amaze me how much info people out on there. Well rounded normal people do not make funny Facebook friends!!!

Blanketontheground · 19/01/2015 10:31

One more thing - yes I agree with whoever said it brings out the bragger in people. Sometimes people forget that you know their circumstances in real life. Still like it though.

HeyheyheyGoodbye · 19/01/2015 10:34

I periodically give up Twitter and FB (I'm in an off-period at the moment, in fact!) and I am always, always, ALWAYS happier when I do. I sometimes feel a bit out of it, not knowing things that are going on, but 99% of it is stuff that enrages me anyway Grin DH likes FB and he will report to me if anything terribly important happens, I suppose. I am a bit of a hermit naturally and prefer to exist in my own little bubble.

fishinabarrell · 19/01/2015 10:41

FB isn't for everyone, however it sounds more like your choice in facebook friends is the issue. Any friend who annoys me I unfollow or defriend so it doesn't really affect me. It's great from group organisations.

ssd · 19/01/2015 10:55

wow, this has made discussions of the day , feel like royalty now Grin

OP posts:
MrsMcColl · 19/01/2015 11:12

I love fb. It enhances my life. It's great I think if you live far away from close friends/family. Or if you work from home and don't have colleagues to chat to in moments of downtime. Or if your child has a rare condition. All of those apply to me.

I'd be more isolated and less entertained without it. Far from being a substitute for RL friendships, I find it strengthens them. Anyone overly blessed, annoying, tedious or UKIP-supporting gets hidden or deleted. My friends mostly post things that are interesting or funny. I feel so blessed.

mrsfuzzy · 19/01/2015 11:16

from listening to my dc most of it sounds like total crap, but i guess it's good for keeping in touch with friends and family, that's a nice way to swop news, but who really gives a toss if you had toast for breakfast and that blue is your 'most fave colour right now' ??

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