Facebook reveals SO much about a person—more than we realize. Just the other day I viewed a friends page who I hadn’t seen in a few years to find conversation starters.
My friend Gloria uses Facebook to check a friend’s alias. If your close friends can access all of that information about you, imagine what strangers can see!
Consider this: A recent study suggests that the more friends you have on Facebook, the more stressed/depressed you are. If you have 1,000 + friends and your Facebook is as revealing as your diary, maybe you should consider a Digital Detox!
How do you know if you need a Digital Detox? It depends on HOW you use your Facebook! If you use your Facebook as a means to represent yourself or for networking, then by all means keep your friends!
However, if you use Facebook for sharing personal information and maintaining intimate connections with friends and loved ones, consider the following 30 minute detox plan:
It’s not difficult, but it could be a little painful (depending on how attached to your Facebook account/friends you are). By detoxing your account, you may find yourself happier having to deal with less friends, less drama and having to hide certain posts from certain people.
A. Delete superfluous friends
Go through your list of friends and ask yourself this question, “Will I say ‘hi’ to this person if I saw them at a party?” If the answer is no, then delete away!
If you have random people, people you haven’t talked to in years or friends who you have NEVER communicated with (whether in real life or via FB), then delete, delete, delete.
B. Block awkward deletes
If you are deleting an acquaintance that might get offended, then just block them! They’ll never know whether you blocked them or simply deactivated your Facebook!
C. Limit information from acquaintances
If you do have to keep a few acquaintances on your Facebook friends list, then limit the information they can access.
Go into your privacy settings and pick out the people you want to hide certain information from. Add them to the list and they will no longer be able to see certain things like your wall, status updates or when you add new pictures.
D. Limit Stalker Friends
We all have those friends that we just KNOW are stalking us. Those friends that quote our status updates amidst casual conversations or start off a conversation with, “I noticed a girl named Georgia wrote on your wall that…”
These people have no life so stop giving them a reason to stay inside on the computer (i.e. – to stalk you and other people). If you limit their daily fix, they may actually get a life and stop following the lives of others.
E. Scan your privacy settings
Before considering your Facebook completely clean, make sure to scan your privacy settings and see if you’re only sharing what you WANT to share.
Often times, you may end up blocking someone you didn’t mean to block or Facebook didn’t save your settings properly so make sure to always double-check before posting, “Facebook cleanup, so glad to be rid of certain people.”
