The Quitter Chronicle: Life without Facebook - Week 2

I caved. A little.

I went back onto Facebook for a total of 17 minutes last week.

In the first instance it was to post a message on a the page that I set up for a writing group within my Masters at UTS. Just a quick note to let them know where, and when, to meet and details of how to contact me if anyone needed to (ie not through Facebook). Total time: 55 seconds.

 

Sucked into the vortex

 

The second instance drew me in a bit deeper. I went online to post a message in a women’s fitness group I am part of. I’d interested in a local gym, but had read some bad reviews. I wanted to see if anyone wanted to sell their membership (so I didn’t have to commit to a 12 month membership). I also wanted to see if I could find a workout buddy – or at least someone to laugh along with as I crashed my way through the first couple of dance classes.

On the way to the Facebook group page I was headed for, I got a bit distracted.

First by '17 things you want to say in Yoga class, but don’t,'

 

then 'The Golden Globes most GIF-able moments,'

 

and finally a heart-melting story about a stranger making a 3 year old’s plane ride the best ever. And it involves turtles.

 

As the clock ticked over past 10 minutes, I realized that I was being sucked into the vortex of the big, beautiful, digitally connected world. I stopped myself from scrolling any further. I hastily made my way to the page, posted my enquiry, then quickly scampered off the site.

If you want the low down on the chow down you gotta hit the f'book

 

On Tuesday I was interested in the Sydney Festival and wanted to check out what catering and entertainment options were available. The entertainment option research was fine – the Sydney Festival website had pretty much all the info I needed. But the catering options? The website had very little useful information and I found I was redirected a number of times to catering supplier’s facebook pages in order to find out what they were offering. I think that marketers have all become too dependant on the ease with which Facebook can be used as a channel to communicate product details. Certainly if I had to manage a website with as much information, from as many sources, as Sydney Festival, I would probably rather link to supplier’s Facebook pages rather than get the relevant information from them. This comment is less a criticism of the Sydney Festival website, but more an observation of the current way marketers, and general punters, use Facebook to communicate and research.

And that Facebook, for all its time-wasting faults, remains a relevant and contextual channel for connecting with the cities and world we live in.

Meanwhile, I have been checking my emails a lot less, but pinning a lot more in Pinterest.