Don't get me wrong, I really do like Facebook! I've been using it for over a year and am amazed by all the people I have re-connected with via Facebook! I've also been able to stay in contact with some people that I probably would have lost touch with otherwise. Overall I think Facebook is an awesome tool for connecting with other people.
With that being said there are way too many distractions on Facebook!! Over the past month I have really been trying to limit my time on Facebook and TRYing and get rid of the distractions. I have all my Facebook email notifications automatically archived and going to a special email folder so I don't get distracted by them all day long! I have chosen not to play Mafia Wars, Farmville, etc like so many other people are doing!
After doing this I still can't believe all the CRAP that is still on Facebook!!! I keep blocking more and more Quizzes, Polls, and other things that have and will distract me and suck up my time and energy! Now, I think I'm wasting too much time and energy by getting annoyed by all the CRAP and blocking it!!
I know there's a new Facebook Lite that has a lot less stuff. However, I can't figure out how to access my Facebook Pages from Facebook Lite. Nor do I see a way to view only status updates. I'm sure once more people start using Facebook Lite Facebook will find even more ways to suck us all in and keep on Facebook Lite too!!
What have you done to limit your Facebook distractions???
11 replies to "The Evils of Facebook"
One effective strategy for me is the Leechblock add-in for Firefox. It blocks those time-wasting sites that can suck the life out of your working day. All you need to do is specify which sites to block and when to block them.
I have it set up to block Facebook if I spend more than 30 minutes on it in any 4 hour period. I also have it set up to only allow me to check email during three short periods each day.
I didnt even know there was a Facebook Lite…sounds like a canned carbonated beverage. I agree about Facebook. For someone who already has time management issues, I do my best to log in only once a day and thats when I have completed the majority of things on my Priority List of Things To Do.
I decided that I will not look at Facebook during the week, and take a few hours to go through it on the weekends. I put a note in my status update that if my friends need to contact me during the week to do it by regular email. I got comments on how my plan wouldn’t work and that people have tried that before. However, having just been diagnosed with ADHD and taking it seriously, I was determined. It has been 2 weeks. So far so good. And, I’m finding now I don’t want to be on it all the time (I’m sure the Vyvanse helps.lol)
I block everything that is not a person – meaning all quizzes and games. Once they are gone, I don’t miss them any more.
And then I hide all the people sending endlees supplies of uninteresting status updates.
This means that I get through a visit to Facebook in about 3 minutes.
You can unsubscribe completely from any email notifications.
I recently went on facebook sabbatical and it was amazing, nearly two months! I had exams coming up =)
The “only at the weekend” rule is good, if you can stick to it.
And DON@T accept friend requests from people you are not friends with! You don’t need your feed clogged up with their news. You can also remove people from your feed, without removing them as a friend (click on the right hand corner of their space in your news feed and click “hide”). This way, it only takes a short while to peruse your news feed and you only look at people you are interested in.
Also, a lot of people don’t know this, but you can organize your friends into categories. For example, I have one for family, one for high school & college friends, church friends, childhood friends, autism community friends, and one category labeled “close contact” (that’s the people to which I’m closest) etc, etc. When you click on each category only the updates of those people show up. That way on a busy day I just click on Close Contacts and when I have more time I look at everyone else.
Tara,
With any type of social media be it Facebook, twitter or reading other blogs .. you have to put a hard and fast limit on the time you spend there. Plan it into your day … on xxx minutes. You are right .. it is soooo easy to get sucked in. My nemesis has been twitter …. arghhh.
Karen
http://www.lipstickwisdom.com
http://www.twitter.com/lipstickwisdom
I’m still getting sucked in. I plan to go on Facebook for maybe an hour while Law & Order is on, (watching and playing lol) then I get up and make dinner, then I sit down again and out comes my laptop. I find myself playing Cafe World and Farmville etc…then answering silly quizzes like “What’s your Star Wars name” or “The Simpsons movie quiz” (I got a 100% on that one lol). I generally end up pointing and clicking all night. Anyone know where I can get some help? 🙂
Can i use this blog as reference in my college report
Regards
Symon
I can’t do Facebook! I tried 3 different times, but I cannot get off of the computer when I am on it! So, I abstain from Facebook, period.
You can also remove people from your feed, without removing them as a friend (click on the right hand corner of their space in your news feed and click “hide”). This way, it only takes a short while to peruse your news feed and you only look at people you are interested in.