Home > Beyond Blue > Mindful Monday: Bewa...

« Check out my new web... Main Index Archives Beliefnet Announces ... »

Mindful Monday: Beware of Facebook

Monday November 17, 2008

Categories: Mental Health

On Mindful Monday, my readers and I practice the art of pausing, TRYING to be still, or considering, ever so briefly, the big picture. We're hoping this soul time will provide enough peace of mind to get us through the...

Continue Reading This Post »

Comments (8)

Filed Under: Addiction, Anxiety, Beyond Blue, Computer Addiction, Depression, Emotional Health, Facebook, Therese Borchard

posted by Beyond Blue @ 5:08am Permalink email icon

Email This

Comments

Carolyn

November 17, 2008 7:31 AM

Don't feel too bad, Therese. Bill Gates (Bill Gates!) had to quit Facebook cold turkey a few months ago because it was taking up too much of his time. And at least you haven't been de-friended (yet), as I was when one of my college-age cousins regretfully informed me that she'd decided not to let anyone over 25 into her circle. Ouch--that hurt on so many levels!

nyjlm

November 17, 2008 7:37 AM

Therese- this is *so* funny b/c I meant to search facebook last night to see if you were on there. But then I fell down another rabbit hole and forgot to look. I only recently joined and yes, you can surely get lost there.

Clayton

November 17, 2008 8:14 AM

"It's like high school all over again." So true.

I was fairly restrained in my use of Facebook... but then I started planning to attend my 20th high school reunion. Suddenly I was friends with people who wouldn't speak to me in high school. Or who I had never even met. I began adopting an "open friend" policy whereby I would accept anyone's friend invite, if we knew at least one person in common. My friends list mushroomed to around 350.

Then the election season hit, and I was wincing at about 1 in every 10 status updates from my "friends." Reality check. And I realized I had a number of contacts who were not really even "acquaintances," if truth be told.

So I began the daily routine of reviewing my friends list and removing 3 a day, until a review of my list began to reveal that I had limited myself to acquaintances, at least. I've slowed the rate now. But I've come to grips with one thing: good will and curiosity do not a friendship make.

I recommend the Facebook 12-step program:
http://bofe.wordpress.com/2007/01/23/facebook-12-step-program/

In all seriosity, if you want a business networking solution without all of the distractions, you may want to try LinkedIn...

http://www.linkedin.com/

linda

November 17, 2008 11:29 AM

I am much more partial to Myspace and Live journal. (I really like them both but none of my friend other than Phlu uses LJ--It is great site-they are the betamx to Myspace's VHS. Everyone and their brother is on Myspace! We blog about our lives (think medical journaling about moods and feelings and you can just write whatever you want mark it private and get all thought crazy feeling out so you can think better!

marilyn

November 17, 2008 3:30 PM

therse i understand it can be like high schoolor any other situation the thrillof haveing so many people want to be your freind.when i came on BN i felt the same way finaly i had all kinds of people wanting to be my freind but eventualy realized that if i am not able to give as well as receive i really am not any better than the rest.i now limit my time to those that i can make a differance in there lives or them in mine.so yes remember we do have addictive personalities and have to be carefull not to get got up in more than our minds can handle.good luck with this.

Cathy

November 18, 2008 12:56 PM

I'm glad I read this today. I'm now terrified of joining Facebook. I lost myself seriously in The Huffington Post and writing comments when I need desperately to be working and, frankly, as a result my tentative hold on my life is spiraling out of control again. But even after the election I am still hooked on HuffPo and I need to break what is becoming an addiction. I joined MySpace shortly before going through my brutal two-plus year Paxil withdrawal and during that black hole have done nothing but simply be there -- and that's worked. I can get caught up in the problems of other people, too, and try to solve their problems, and that's not always good because then I create more problems for myself and then nobody gets helped. The internet is my Achilles heel, I have to finally admit that, and much as I need it to send my work back and forth, I am reminded that for over a year I had my equipment in a place where there was no internet and I would have to send my work when I came home -- I got a lot more done and I was starting to see the forest and the trees. Thank you for posting this experience. I also don't feel so alone in this problem.

Gideon

November 18, 2008 5:11 PM

I'll never understand people's love of canned soup, gross.

Larry Parker

November 18, 2008 11:34 PM

http://community.beliefnet.com/doxieman122

You realize there are a lot of people on the Beyond Blue group who would confess to being addicted to Beliefnet. I am to a certain degree. I'm trying to set limits -- ironically at the suggestion of fellow members -- and somewhat, though only somewhat, succeeding.

All the more reason why I'm not going the Facebook/MySpace route. Or even Blogger or Blogspot. As I said to someone who asked me to move my blog outside of Beliefnet, "I LIKE my training wheels."

I hope you've at least snapped out of the hypomania. And Priscilla is right -- it can just be a tool, not a craze.

Post a Comment

By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.