I most definitely am having a love-hate relationship with Facebook these days. What began as a simple effort for reaching a wider audience with my writing has grown into something far more complex for me, one that holds both the positive and the negative, often leading me to question whether I want to remain on this social media tool at all.
Let’s start with the negative first. I’ve regularly found myself measuring my self-worth by how many likes I get to each of my postings, sometimes even posting pictures of myself just to boost my self-esteem through the likes I get, been envious of postings by others who appear to be far happier in life doing things I’m not doing or may never be able to do, struggled each time I’ve gotten unfriended and/or blocked without any reason, especially by those I considered to be real friends, grown weary of the constant arguments I’ve seen between others due to religious and political differences, taken it personal each time I’ve experienced friend request rejections, especially when my partner’s gets accepted and mine doesn’t, felt disappointed each time a personal message I’ve sent doesn’t get responded to, and battled at times with old addiction urges that used both Facebook pictures and Facebook messaging as tools of acting out.
That seems to be quite a bit of negative reasons my presence on Facebook brings me doesn’t it?
So why bother remaining on Facebook at all?
Well for as much as there are those negative reasons, there’s just as much positive reasons for me to remain on Facebook as well. Of course, the original reason is still true in that I continue to reach a far wider and more diverse audience with my blog writing, some of which have even become daily readers because of it. Beyond that, there’s those friends I’ve lost track of long ago who were able to find me and reconnect with me only because of my presence on Facebook. Then there are those friendships that started on Facebook, that eventually moved beyond that to real life, some of which have even become my dearest of friends. There are also amazing public events I’ve been able to attend I probably never would have known about if it hadn’t been for Facebook. The same holds true for Invites to parties I’ve been sent that I really enjoyed going to that I might have missed out on if it wasn’t for Facebook. I also treasure all those people who have related so much to what I’ve shared that they’ve either commented publicly so or personally in the private messaging tool. It’s also been a great tool to find inspirational quotes and pictures that have helped to motivate me at times. And lastly, being on several Facebook groups have assisted my spiritual journey quite a bit too.
So, I’m sure you can understand now why I have such a dilemma when it comes to Facebook and why I feel this love-hate relationship with the social media tool. I know many others share the same feelings as I do about Facebook, a number of which have chosen to remain active on it, while an equal number of others have chosen to free themselves of it completely, expressing it was the best decision they ever made.
For the moment, I continue to be undecided as to whether I want to remain on Facebook (and Twitter for that matter, as it’s the only other social media tool I’m still on). While I know it’s been a benefit on many levels, it continues to also be a burden at times on my spiritual journey. I pray that in time it all becomes a little clearer, as to whether it really is serving a Higher Purpose for me or only feeding my ego…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
