Confessions of a Facebook Addict

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I have been a Facebook addict for quite some time now. . . I couldn't tell you when it happened or even when I realized it had happened. . .  But, it  is among the first things I do when I wake up, among the last before going to sleep, & what I find myself mindlessly checking when I am bored or waiting for an appointment. I don't usually post my meals or cat videos (Yuck! I am not a cat person!), but there are some other telling signs of (&, perhaps, reasons for) my addiction. . .

It is an addiction. . . But it's not necessarily a bad thing. (Image from morgueFile.com)

This semester, I am taking five classes, for a total of 16 credits, (compared to the four-class, 13-credit fall semester I had); three of these classes are entirely online, (compared to only one online class last semester). While I have one tab in my browser open to Canvas for class-related work, I will always have at least one other tab open to Facebook to multi-task. (In all fairness, I usually will have my email up in a third tab &, often times, a fourth tab with WordPress up to create a draft of whatever blog post happens to be on my mind at the moment.) I have a need to multi-task. My brain is constantly bouncing back & forth from one topic to another, so I might as well give it a place to be productive, eh? (That is what I tell myself, anyway.)

Facebook is my main social life.

Especially now that I live so far away from the majority of people I know, without Facebook, my social life would be nearly non-existent. Of the few people I do know that live in my own state of residence, the majority, I met through Facebook!

I am the type of person that requires quite a bit of alcohol to be even remotely social when face-to-face, but has no problem when I can sit behind a computer screen, able to put my thoughts into written form before sharing them. Face-to-face is anxiety-inducing, more often than not; communication through writing comes so much easier! The only people I can talk with for hours on the phone are my grandmother & my Uncle Darren — &, recently, one of my best friends, who winds up talking on the phone with me for an average of two hours every few weeks, on average. . . I never would have thought that I would look forward to phone calls so much! BUT, those phone calls are the exception to the rule, which is that text messages rank above phone calls, & Facebook ranks above text messages. I don't know why. . . It is just how it has worked out.

It is not only a place to see the trivial posts of my friends about their day, the fact they are getting sick, or where they went to dinner (& with whom), but it is also a place that provides a means for communication through their chat function & a way to know what is going on through their events.

I “attend” various direct sales parties, “hosted” by friends, for Jamberry, Pure Romance, & Pampered Chef, as examples. . . & I get to know about my little brother's & his girlfriend's baby shower they just had for my soon-to-be-born niece, Lorrayne, (named after our mother, whose middle name was “Lorraine.” I love it!).

Heck! The handsome husband & I even invited our small amount of guests to our wedding (at a public park) & mini-reception (at our favorite local Mexican restaurant) via Facebook! Some say tacky, I say affordable, practical, & efficient! More so, it was so US to do it that way. . . Plus, it suited the casual occasion. . . &, again, it was totally a “Kyle & Reta” thing to do.

Facebook is where I interact with some of my favorite bloggers, (outside of our blogs, anyway), in a “secret” group just for bloggers. I've joined a group for a few of the ladies I've met in my area since becoming new to the area, a group that I discovered (through blogging) that is for people trying to be more intentional in their lives, a group for the participants of the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop that I like to participate in fairly regularly, a new group formed to flood the blogosphere with compassion-related posts on February 20 (with its accompanying Facebook community page), countless groups for fiction writers of various sorts, several groups for Outlander & Diana Gabaldon fans, & different local groups for general chatting &/or yard sales. I even help run a few of the smaller groups, like my (virtual) book club group & a group for female speculative fiction writers.

Then, there's the community page for Calculated Chaos that I treat as an extension of my personal page. . . It is where I post links to each blog post, where I share memes that I might not share on my personal page, & where I post the few thoughts I am willing to share (so far) about my (meager) progress in trying to get more of a routine for furthering my fiction writing. It is fun because most of it contains things I wouldn't normally post on my personal page (for whatever reason).

If I were to wake up one day & Facebook was just no longer there, I honestly have no idea what I would do with myself. . .

Okay, that's not true; I would be even more reclusive than I already am. . . I would read all day or write all day, & I would interact with people even less than I already do — because Facebook is where most plans are made!

So, it is what it is. . . & I am okay with it. Facebook serves its purpose, I suppose. . . At least that is the case for this juncture in my life.

I am sure this isn't all-inclusive. . . What are some other signs of a Facebook addiction?