Bye bye facebook!
The unexpected consequences of deleting the app.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I’m addicted to facebook. I have a rather dormant account sparing the occasional attempt at being witty. In fact, I have often considered deleting my account altogether.

Recently, after scrolling through an avalanche of uninteresting posts and click-baits, I was tempted to finally delete my account. Then again, the platform does prove useful as a communication tool from time to time. For some of my contacts, it is the only way we can stay in touch. My account thus remained very much un-deleted.

I had to do something about it though. There were a few habits that had creeped into my everyday life that I wanted to get rid of. So I took the following steps to, at least, semi-quit facebook:

The first few days were eye-openers! I noticed countless occasions when I’d pull out my phone with the intent of checking my feed: in the morning, before going to bed, on the metro, at work, while eating meals. I was surprised to realize how deeply-ingrained this behaviour had become. It has been a little over two months since I deleted the app and I couldn’t be happier. Here are a few consequences of taming facebook:

I’ll be keeping track of these improvements and I shall post my insights again in a few months.

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Written by Harsh Nene on 03 December 2016