What My Break From Facebook Has Taught Me…

2011 Ugly Sweater Party with some
of the most amazing men I have the
honor of knowing and loving.

I will start by saying that my personal social experiment has proven to be something that I should have tried years ago…although social networking wasn’t something that was part of my reality.  During this hiatus, it has been interesting as to who was part of my inner circle.  I wish that I could say that it was all 149 people on my FB list, but it was only 46.  And if my math is correct, that's less than a 1/3 of those on my list who were in touch with me in one way or another.  (I'm not keeping score; I actually counted for the purpose of my ‘scientific experiment.’) In all fairness, I am guilty of not reaching out to all 149 people during this month…so of course there are some outliers to my results, but the point of this experiment is to see what kind of connections I could make in 31 days, and there are six days left to gather my data, I am curious as to how many people I can at least contact, share my friendship, let them know I care about them and their lives, and hope that we can open the door to more intimate conversations and experiences.

To those who have been a part of actual conversations with me know that I am completely fascinated with my results.  Not because people reached out to me, but because I made a more deliberate effort to open the lines of communication, even though I was not as successful as I would have hoped.  Does this mean that I am taking another month away from Facebook to hone in on my communication abilities?  Nope.  It does, however, mean that I am going to be more mindful of HOW I communicate with those on my contact list.  I am making the conscious decision to continue connecting with people, building stronger bonds with my 'friends'…actually creating real friendships, not acquaintances.  I believe that this is possible, and that the outcome is going to be worth my efforts.

What has my break from Facebook taught me?  

It has taught me that I need to work on my interpersonal skills.  I need to pay closer attention to those around me, not just superficially, but truly knowing my friends.  I hope that others will do the same and that our friendships will continue to flourish.