HI, MY NAME IS _________________, AND I AM ADDICTED TO FACEBOOK

I am growing to hate Facebook.  Oh don't get me wrong, I think the creators of this social media phenom are highly talented, genius even.  Do I wish I would have been one of them, now benefiting financially from it - YES!!  It wasn't until about two and half years ago that I even had a Facebook page.  If it would have been up to me solely, I still wouldn't have one.  It was my nieces - one in particular, that decided I needed a Facebook page.  She set up my profile and got me started.  I really don't have a highly addictive personality.  Ok, maybe coffee - but I have gone without it recently for extended periods of time.  Maybe exercise - but that's actually good for you and I still don't spend hours and hours a day doing it either.   My friend Big D and her husband were over for dinner last week.  We enjoyed stories, laughter, a new salad recipe and a couple of bottles of good wine.  In the conversation we talked about some paint by number game on the internet that Big D is now addicted to.  Her husband shared that every spare moment she plays it.  I teased her that she was that way with Farmville and Facebook at one point (she still is!!).   My point is certain personalities are more addiction prone than others.   It doesn't make me better that I am not.  It's just that social media and games don't hold my attention.  When it comes to Facebook I might go a week without even checking it.  And, when I do check my feed - all my friend's links and posts that bleed onto mine, I usually shake my head and find myself getting disgusted.  This week I really have contemplated just getting off Facebook entirely.  I have grown increasingly weary of people posting every 2 minutes - posting things of a somewhat personal and intimate nature or things that seem ridiculous to me and probably most everyone else except to them.  People ask to be your friend on Facebook that you don't ever see or will never carry on a regular conversation with.  Most of whom you probably wouldn't go have a cup of coffee with if they lived in your town.  As many posts as I see from some people, I wonder what else they have time to do in their lives.  Why are we so fascinated with being able to know every detail of everyone's lives?  Why do we enjoy seeing pictures of people we went to high school with and giggling at how they have aged and we haven't?  It's far too easy to sit there and have one liner relationships with people we are mildly connected to, than to invest in real lives of people in the individual physical worlds we all live in.  I don't like trite, overly cute isms - much of what is on Facebook.  I rarely post anything.  I will only comment on someone else's posts when I have something legitimate to say - which is nearly never.  What has value in my life doesn't need to be validated in the eyes of others nor do I think they would always find my pictures, posts and life riveting.  I enjoy catching up with people who I haven't seen in years, but short of that....I can text, email or call those that I really care about.  I really am starting to hate Facebook.