Defriending Facebook

Most of us would likely be embarrassed if we tallied how much time we waste on Facebook every day.

One busy Minnesota resident, recently featured in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, was dividing time between his wife and five children, working as a doctor and volunteering as a PTA member, but still found several hours a week to squander online.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg envisioned his social networking site to be something users checked upon waking in the morning and before falling asleep at night. While scrolling through his news feed one night, Matt Klein had a revelation.

"It got me thinking: I have five pre-teen kids. Why do I care what my old high school buddy is doing?" he said, noting his friends' oversharing was starting to annoy him.

Klein started to step away slowly, by emailing close friends and family members, to inform them he was decreasing his online presence. Two months ago, he took a giant leap by deleting his account.

He is still going through what he calls "withdrawal," but has found he has more social time to spend with his family, and says "yes" instead of "just a minute" when his children ask him to do something with them.

While his decision to unplug was difficult, it is commendable.

A mass media class my senior year of college required a cold-turkey day of silence, during which students fasted from all electronic devices. Phone calls were okay, but texting and web browsing was not. Even watching videos or listening to music was off-limits.

Classmates described the experience as eye-opening. Until their distractions were taken away, they had no idea how little time they spent interacting with others.

One girl said she never realized how lonely she was until she was surrounded by others who were all glued to their phones, computers or tablets.

While Facebook can be a great tool for business and keeping up with friends and family, it also has a knack for socially isolating users. A printed message is no substitute for a face-to-face conversation.

Try a day of silence - you might be surprised at how little you miss Facebook's information overload and how much you enjoy activities with those closest to you.

* Ashley Miller is a member of the Pilot-Tribune news staff. Reach the columnist at amiller@stormlakepilottribune.com.