Seven Reasons Why Facebook is Slowly Killing Me

I love Facebook. I have been on the platform since around 2005 or 2006. My blog writing has decreased in the past several years because I am posting more of my random thoughts and polls and pictures on Facebook. I have totally drunk the Kool Aid.

But like any outlet, there are some rather nefarious consequences. Here are my thoughts on Seven Reasons Why Facebook is Slowly Killing Me:

7. It knows everything. I swear I can THINK about something, and the next thing I know, an ad for the product I just thought of shows up in my feed.

6. The ads make me sad. Maybe this more of a function of me than the ads. But when I am struggling with body image issues, and every.single.ad seems to be How to Get a Bikini Body, I feel like any issues I have are just more compounded.

5. I compare my kids too much. My kids are their own people. They are not very interested in organized activities. But for some reason, seeing pictures of children who are not only participating in sports, but appear to LIKE doing so, makes me feel like I need to somehow do something differently as a mom.

4. The news is overwhelming. I have recently "hid" all of the news outlets that I previously followed. I love being informed - but I love being sane even more. A constant barrage of negative news just increased my anxiety.

3. I feel left out at times. This is ridiculous, because I have a perfectly wonderful life. But sometimes I will see pictures of a social gathering in which I was not invited to, and feel sad or down about being left out. I realize this is not a valid feeling, because of course 100% of people cannot be invited to 100% of gatherings. But it's a true emotion.

2. I worry that I post too frequently. This is actually a real worry, because I DO post VERY frequently. But it takes some of the joy away when I am constantly worried that I am annoying people.

1. Seeing people argue crushes my soul. Why do I read the comments for anything? WHY? All it does it brings me pain and makes me physically feel ill to see people arguing. I do not normally encounter people arguing in my everyday life, so seeing it online makes it that more intense.

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All of this to say, I love Facebook and will hold onto it until my last dying breath (or until, perhaps, Facebook itself dies). But as with all things, moderation and balance are key. Because even something you love can slowly kill you at times. ;)