It happens. "Facebook depression" seems to be one of those things that has crept up in recent years. It used to be we would run into some old friend or acquaintance at the supermarket who gushes on and on about their life for five minutes. Then we leave, and never see them again. Now we see what that person is doing 24/7. Social networking is a narcissist's dream come true. It's also why they created filters, to block out the annoying people who post all the time.
Just remember: People who TMI all over Facebook are usually overcompensating for something. Nobody is that happy or that interesting. Chances are their real lives are pretty boring. Documenting your life 24/7 means you aren't living it. Real, quality experiences happen in the moments between iPhone camera snaps, tags, "likes" and status updates. If everything is special, then nothing is special. You're out there living life while everyone else is posting about it.
Good for you for getting away from Facebook if it was bringing you down. Of course, if you ever do go back to Facebook, you could spend some time over on the GuySpeak Facebook page. Plenty of nice, non-egotistical folks there.
Great answer, Nick!
One thing I'd add is that if we were all really honest about how we were feeling and what we were doing all the time on Facebook...
Fran is at work.
Fran is at work.
Fran is at work.
Fran is writing a blog entry.
Fran had an okay lunch.
Fran is doing nothing particularly worthwhile.
Fran just smelled her armpits and deduced that she needs a shower.
Fran is procrastinating.
Fran is squeezing a zit.
Fran is sitting on the toilet, with horrible, horrible cramps.
Fran is feeling utterly wretched because she's suddenly convinced no one loves her.
Fran has just called her mum and feels even worse.
Fran feels okay now, actually.
Fran is feeling clever and happy.
Fran is outside, speechless at nature's wonderful gifts.
Fran is bored and cold and hates everyone and everything.
Fran is eating butter mixed with brown sugar.
Fran feels pretty, pretty good.
Fran is wondering why no one else in her house is capable of washing the dishes.
Fran just lost her temper.
Fran now feels dejected and guilty.
Fran is bored.
Fran is tired and wants to go to bed.
Fran is curled up with her cat.
Fran is reading.
Fran is reading.
Fran is reading.
And so on and so forth. Ad infinitum. Well, ad mortum, anyway.
It's not just you. Everyone feels like that sometimes. Everything Geek said is true, and you also need to keep in mind that Facebook is highly edited. People (well, normal people at least) don't document the bad things that happen to them, or their failures or shortcomings. All that usually makes it online is the positive, which can make people's lives look perfect.
I think you made a good choice to get rid of yours. For me, the compromise was disabling my wall and chat and some other features so that pretty much all I can use it for is getting invites to stuff and keeping up with people I actually care about. It's got some redeeming qualities, but overall social networking is a huge time sucker and can give you a really warped idea of reality.
Great answer CG!!! I really think ppl that post TMI on facebook are trying to convince themselves they have the perfect life. why waste time posting 24/7 when you can actually go out and spend time with REAL ppl you can touch, smell and embrace?
People who are busy living their lives don't have time to sit down and write about it on Facebook.