Facebook.

How much can you really convey in a status?? I know, for me, there is a lot more going on than just, "Going to the park with the kids.", or some other lame one-liner. When I am on Facebook and I want to maybe share a status I sometimes rack my brain to find the one thing that is most worth sharing. Something that might cause people to want to comment, or really just validate what I had to say. - And then when it comes to reading other statuses...I don't really care that you and your girls all went out and had a great time. I mean, I do, I am happy that you're happy; I just don't need to use my time to seek out that information when it is not anything that I would have ever known otherwise. Facebook has become the great relater of useless information. So, I will be using my blog more. That way I can expound on the many things I have going on in my head, instead of trying to narrow it down to ten words or less.

And then there is the complaining. I won't give examples. But if you are going to send out a message for all your friends to read when they read their wall and you are constantly sending out negative vibes, well, I am just going to think that you're a negative person. There is no way that I would have close to the amount of interaction with people without FB than with. Chances are I will read 50 of your statuses before I actually go and hang out with you. So, in my mind, you're just a complainer. And that's probably not a fair assessment because, like I said, there's a lot more to me than my status, and that's probably true for you too.

And the showiness. I don't think it is really bragging, but FB can cause a person to be quite showy, myself included. Look at my cute kids in their cute Easter clothes. Look at our entire album of beach pics. I mean, seriously, if you were to come to my house, I'm not going to bust out our photo albums on you. For the most part, I do love seeing people's pics, but don't you think it is a bit unnatural? Do we really consider all of our friends when we nonchalantly post our pics for all of them to see?? Look at me, Look at me, Look at me!

It's a waste. I don't think I would need to use more than just the ten fingers I have to count the number of actual positive actions that FB has spawned. - Allison: Martha is trapped at the airport. Tiffany: I'll go get her!! - Such a great use of FB. Here is a need, and someone stepped up to help. If there was more of this type thing, then maybe I could justify staying, but 99.9% of it is a waste. Scrabble?: waste. Farmville?: waste. Family Feud?: waste. Those are just a few, a few that I personally got sucked into. - I often times think of a talk by Dalan H Oaks about "good, better, best". And even if I am sitting on a couch feeling like junk, suffering through the first part of a pregnancy, there are better things I can be doing than checking FB. And FB probably doesn't even reach the "good" status. I think it is what the general authorities would list as a distraction. A distraction from things that I could be doing. Because while I am just sitting, I could be reading a book, reading the ensign, playing a game with my kids, learning how to knit. Something, other than letting people's statuses and wall post conversations fill my sight. I think it dulls my sensitivity to my children and the spirit. It is a waste.

I sometimes think about people who I have a lot of respect for and who don't have facebook accounts. My friends Erin and Shelyse, who are both remarkable and busy mothers, who appreciate living in ignorance of all the "going ons" of facebook. I know that if I want to reach them, I am going to have to pick up a phone, even if to text, and have more personal interaction with them...and they're worth it. My brother-in-law Matt, who recently went through a divorce: I came to hate how his wife/now ex used FB in a public way during this time. He has talked with me about how he is glad he's not on there, and I don't blame him. - I lived many years without Facebook, and quite happily. I can't think of anything really enriching that has been added to my life because of FB. So, it had been evaluated, weighed, and discarded from my life. Hopefully the meaningless relationships can be replaced by an effort on my part to focus on the meaningful ones. And if you'll excuse me, I need to go play with my kids.