Ah temporary freedom. Just deleted my Facebook and Myspace pages and it feels great. Of course I plan on returning to FB once the 14 day waiting period is over because as much as I bitch and moan…life is getting dependent on social networking. But generally it’s nice to feel like I have some power over the beast, that I’m not blood related to it. It’s more like an estranged in-law relationship now.
I literally toiled for several weeks over how to actually make the break. Are people going to be upset over the move, albeit temporary? Will i actually miss out on super exciting events that I was only peripherally aware of in the first place? After debating, I decided to tell FB that I needed some space. My hope is that by flushing out all of my current social media, I can return on multiple platforms in a more integrated manner. Underline, italicize, HOPE. Nothing with these mega feeding pens of people is ever simple. If you checked out the link above then you know how slippery the slope of getting to the point of deletion can actually be. In a nutshell, if you by any means accidentally connect yourself back to FB then the deactivation is sustained and the deletion clock has to begin again. Unfortunately, there is no real reason why you’re made to wait so long. In fact, I had to scour the internet, NOT the FB site, to find out how to actually delete my account. Then again, they have never been truly up front about anything.
So why is deleting this omnipresent social tool, a good thing? As I mentioned before, I want to flush useless information that may or may not be present. Like many people my age, we were driven to social media as it was being created. What would come of it and how it would be used was still in its infancy. Nowhere in its inception did I think that potential employment would discredit me from what employers found out about me on the web. Not that its happened to me but the fear is sound. In terms of career and employment, I want to begin building my social network from the ground up–molding it in terms of my needs. This is something that many were unable to accomplish even several years ago. By cleaning the slate, I can plug in other sites that help me further my personal brand. Yes, it tends to be the same pool of people that devote themselves to your media but not everyone accesses it in the same way. Sometimes its better to knock down the bridge and move it to a better street.
It’s all about control. How much we have, over what, and where we lack it. It is getting better, I admit, but when a consumer lacks almost all control over their own personal image and relationships, I get downtrodden and wonder what kinda of totalitarian world we’re living in. This is a time for the individual; where every word, thought, vote and voice is counted. The only caveat I append is that it’s my voice and not someone else’s. I appreciate the complexity of advertising and marketing to individual needs;however, I still want to acknowledge the things I like, want and need without being ridiculed and alienated. Oh, and a potential employer really doesn’t need to know what happened in Vegas. Ever. Unless he was there and was holding that strippers hair back…then maybe.
