I have finally done it. I have left Facebook.

Branding professionals everywhere are scratching their eyes out at the thought, but for the everyday Joe who is really thoughtful about it, this is like quitting smoking.

– Nothing good comes from it
– It doesn’t change you real-life social behavior, just the contrivances…which you can do without
– You’re addicted to “the feed” which you “chain read” every 2-3 minutes
– You always expect to find something cool but are let down every time
– It leaves a bad taste in your mouth after you do it
– Once you stop, your health gets better, the smile returns to your face, food tastes better, and even though you still compulsively look at your phone’s lock screen every 3 minutes, you’re now just aware of how much time you have wasted in this worthless pursuit.

OK, so Facebook doesn’t cause cancer, but I really began to detest the way it made me feel. Either I was seeing inflammatory posts that I refused to respond to, just fuming to myself (and likely, far too much to my wife), or I responded to said inflammation, fanning the flames of incredulity and feeling no better about it in the end. Hard words and insensitivity rule the day on the platform, likely because there are no repercussions. Comments made on Facebook would NEVER fly in a face-to-face conversation; it’d just be rude. One way to look at it is that participation in the Facebook platform is tantamount to taking lessons in incredulity, insensitivity and just plain poor manners.

So, farewell Facebook does not mean farewell to my friends. I’ve got email, Skype, Twitter and an ancient invention called a telephone which I believe still let’s me talk to folks. See you in the real world my friends!