I visit my Facebook page about once a month. I used to use it all the time, but now I don’t. I think they changed their format or something, and I didn’t bother figuring out how to click around. I’m thinking of getting rid of it all together because it’s just another way for me to annoy people. By that I mean it’s just another way for me to not return e-mails, or for that matter pithy comments on my wall. At one point last year I had more than five-hundred unopened messages. Not unreturned, but actually unopened. I’ve gotten that down to around 120 these days, but it’s still hard for me to make a personal connection via e-mail. I’m horrible about that stuff. But it’s scary. How will I know about important social causes? Facebook is the new Economist, you know. I like Twitter and it truly is how I keep tabs on my friends, but Facebook has become a hindrance. So, in seeking resolve, I fired some questions at my friend Anne Jackson, who deleted her facebook account several months ago and has never looked back. If you happen to be contemplating such things too, perhaps her perspective might help you push the button with me:
Don: Why’d you delete your Facebook account?
Anne: The one sentence that sums it up is that I lost my innocence in it. Of course when people hear that, they take it out of context and think that means I was hooking up with former lovers or something. Oh, drama seekers…t’wasn’t the case. The purpose of Facebook is to connect with friends, but I saw the potential in it as an author to use (ahem: abuse) it as a marketing platform. I accepted every “friend” request and made sure that my blog and twitter feeds were hooked up through it so I’d never
actually have to interact with anyone. It became about me talking about myself and not engaging in conversations…and realistically, it’s difficult to have a conversation with 3000 “friends” at once.
Don: What annoyed you about Facebook?
Anne: The fact I couldn’t turn off the inbox was pretty annoying because I never really checked it. I had posted on the front of my page that if someone needed to contact me, they could email me, but people still would message me on Facebook.
Don: So is this universal, are we all supposed to delete our Facebook accounts?
Anne: I shall not cast judgment on those who keep their Facebook accounts. I think there is tremendous opportunity to connect, engage and network responsibly through it.
Don: What do you miss about it?
Anne: Because Facebook is probably the most commonly used social media site, I find myself missing invitations to events and hearing about old friends
having babies because sometimes, that’s the only place people post that kind of information. And I’ll admit that I especially miss exploring what a decade of life has done to the people I went to school with. 
Don: Without Facebook, how do you know what Jane Austen character you are most like? And how do you know what Jane Austen character most of your friends are like?
Anne: Fortunately, I’m secure enough in myself and my Jane Austen knowledge to know I’m easily Catherine Morland. Preacher’s kid. Tomboy. Daydreamer? However, I do feel badly for leaving all my Ninja friends behind. Please forgive me.
So there you go. Hope that helps you press the button. I shall be deleting mine soon. Anne Jackson is the author of the forthcoming book Permission to Speak Freely. You can learn more about Anne here. And no, I have never read anything by Jane Austen.
