Last Sunday, I uninstalled the Facebook app from my Android. I did not uninstalled it as part of a twelve step program. I was not conducting one of those experiment. I just wanted less distractions while at work, but it built upon itself while going through. I was not distracted because I was not looking at the latest feed. However, I felt the pinch this weekend. I was not at work on Saturday and Sunday, and I wanted to catch the latest information. There was no Facebook on my phone, and there is still no Facebook on my phone. I am using Facebook like I used to do ten years ago. I am using my laptop, and I somewhat reclaiming my time from social media universe. I have not completely weaned myself of social media, but I have done something about my biggest time waster.

I am an IT worker, and I make a living with technology, but one has to control the technology around oneself. The technology should not control one’s life. The technology is a tool, and one has to remember the technology is a tool. Many years ago, I read that Steve Jobs did not allow his children to have iPads and iPhones. It seems odd, because he made a fortune with these devices, but he did not want his growing children to have them. These mobile devices prevent one from interacting with actual people, and it can be disconcerting to see an entire family at a restaurant all in their mobile devices. An acquaintance told me once; family meal is radio silence in his household. I would try to implement such rule if I had a family, but there are also other hosts of rules I would implement if I had a family of my own.

In the age of social media, some people fully embrace the all associated medias, while other are more cautious of social media. Social media has affected every aspect of human life in the twenty-first century, but one has to ask many questions. I still enjoy hearing the other person’s voice at the other end of the phone line. I still enjoy receiving snail mail from friends, and I still like my laptop computer. As time passes I will try to remove some other social media app on my android.