Saturday, June 12, 2010

FACEBOOK WITHDRAWAL


This was how my typical day went like…



Get up late – check facebook – go to hospital – stay connected to facebook via facebook mobile –  come back home – have lunch – check facebook – go out to meet my friends – stay connected to facebook via facebook mobile – return home – have dinner – log in facebook – stay logged in till its very, very late.

In short, I was a facebook addict.

Then one fine day, for no reason – logical or otherwise – I decided to quit. When I first deactivated my account I felt a feeling of release. It was as though I had conquered something great. But like any other addiction, quitting leads to withdrawal symptoms. And it’s not like there are support groups to help you cope with this. Pity that there is no facebook anonymous or anything of that sort coz if there was such a thing, I’d have applied for a lifetime membership. 

As soon as I started the internet connection the mouse automatically went towards the facebook icon. Facebook was just one click away but I knew I had to be strong. First symptom of facebook withdrawal – you notice other sites, too. I switched on gtalk instead. 2 people online, one idle. Fond memories of facebook filled my thoughts. At any given point of time facebook had at least 8 people online. For the first time in my life, I had nothing to do online.  Second symptom of facebook withdrawal – securing new heights of joblessness.

It is very difficult to keep in touch with more than a few dozen people at a time let alone the 200 odd “friends” I had on facebook. It was funny I never wondered what was going on in their lives before. No, that is not entirely true… it was just that I never Had to wonder, what with 50 status updates everyone put … complete with insanely outrageous grammar and equally devastating spelling errors (I had “hidden” most of my “friends” just coz I couldn’t stand their status updates) but now I found the third symptom of facebook withdrawal. Wondering what everyone was up to.

Ah… it’s not that bad. You get used to all this in a few days. By the third or fourth day you even feel you can live without facebook. And it is true. It is nothing you can’t live without. You tend to look up to other stuff to fill your minds and life goes on without much difference. And one fine day you get over the addiction. And you feel whole again.

Bulls. Who am I kidding? That day never comes. Facebook never really deactivates your account... as soon as you log in; you are back like nothing ever happened. Half the people haven’t even noticed your absence. (Sad but a bit of a relief, a whole lot less number of people you have to explain your absence to) Even if you want to permanently delete your account, the account is preserved for 14 days (for security reasons they say, but the real reason is that they know that very few people can actually resist the temptation of logging in for that long)

Like any other addict you look for reasons… hey it’s not like I m going to smoke again, but it doesn’t harm to keep a pack in the house does it... I m just keeping the bottle in case guests come over… It doesn’t hurt to keep the account open; I will keep it down this time… And those who think they can write; write an account of their experiences of addictions and subsequent withdrawal symptoms. And then they vow never to log into facebook again. Facebook is evil… evil... evil… EVIL

Anyway… I think I have ranted enough. And it has done nothing to get rid of my boredom. I am going to log into facebook again. I mean… I know I am trying to quit… its addictive and all that blah blah… but it doesn’t hurt to keep the account open, does it? I will keep it down this time… pakka… promise… :-/


11 comments:

Dreamcatcher said...

hahhaa...gud luck wid dat....
i had tried once...couldnt resist even for half a day...:P
facebook is totally EVIL....
but alas, we're completely in love with it...;)

Pushkar said...

Facebook ke naam ke under you are doing drugs?? Very expected! :P

BTW, facebook mein aisa kya hai woh to likha hi nahi tumne! What is it that's keeping you addicted to it?

PS: I like Jitsy's display picture!!

Dreamcatcher said...

@Pushkar : thnx for liking the nerd in me! :P ....wanna knw y fb's evil...visit my blog by 16th

Pushkar said...

Now I am in to social networking on blogger. What an achievement

Dreamcatcher said...

hehehehe...dast d power of internet~!

Dreamcatcher said...

ok...i know i sd ul get a post on y fb is evil today......but trust me i was gonna write abt dat but my hands just went to typing all the difrnt kinda words...n wat i hav now i a hell lotta frustration accumulated in the past week unleashed!!!!!!! enjoy dat...
n sumday....if dat day cums...maybe il actually write y fb is EVIL!!!! :P

vineet said...

hehehe, nice post, even ma current ost is on FB, its addictv n i m loving it, same genes i guess..lovely wrk n loved the final pic

Dreamcatcher said...

http://jitsyspeaks.blogspot.com/2010/06/25-of-me.html...
iv tagged you in a post on my blog...
do check!

pRasad said...

Enjoyed readin!

I think, nowdays Orkut is lagging behind facebook in India.
I personally like many facebook features.

Anonymous said...

Patho-physiology of addiction:

1. The 1st login- The first time you create your account.

2. Social logins- The time period when you login fb to experiment and learn more about it.

3. Heavy logins- The time period when you keep login every now and then, given quater an opportunity.

4. Login abuse- When you start creating opportunities to login, irrespective of time, place and situation.

5. Login addiction- When you show withdrawls if unable to login, and it starts affecting you mentally/phy/emo etc.

The stages overlap and few may skip directly to the addiction phase. Watch out!

P.S. I am fixated to facebook, and trust me, i see no reason to quit something as 'beautiful' as that, unless they come up with something better than that.

Aarthi said...

Hi Sush,

I left you a message on your most recent post (Dec 2009). I want to interview you about this particular one, as I am working on a story about 'Facebook addiction' for popular women's magazine.

Left my email there as well.

Thanks