Kicking Facebook...

Where, oh where, in the web-o-sphere have I been? Sad to say, some while back, when my Blog posts dried up, it was because I became totally hooked on Facebook. It became all-too addicting -- reveling in those FB “likes” and keeping up to date with what merry mischief my sociable friends are up to. Having a “smart phone” had a lot to do with it. FB is a total “time hog,” because I have to constantly correct, edit, and re-correct all the auto-changes and word substitutions triggered by each of my slang-heavy quips.

Everything FB critics warned the public about attention and focus is true. I stopped reading books, blogging, and watching video. I imagine it’s because a little squirt of super-pleasurable dopamine is released with the “social acceptance” of each “like” feedback notice. Pretty soon, the susceptible are behaving much like online poker addicts – hooked on maintaining the flow of those neurotransmitters of joy. Guilty.

On FB, I also started “stretching out” from my savant-like “hyper-focus” on original comic book art at work, and I was totally grooving on sharing images of my favorite landscape paintings and illustration art pieces. I estimate I am only using about 35% of my “total art knowledge” for my occupation as the world’s greatest comic art cataloger -- so I got carried away with the uninhibited fun of my new “free-range” art celebrations. Old art history networks, long dormant, fired up again.  Unfortunately, a friend pointed out that my numerous FB posts had become like a “RSS feed into the brain of Don Mangus.” At least they weren’t political diatribes.

All this time away from my Blogs will not be a total loss, though. I’m going to transfer some of the more relevant topics I covered on FB over to these more “universal” blogs.

I’m very interested in the idea of using social networks to help heal anxiety disorders, share information, and be a positive influence in general. Used properly, in moderation, FB could be a helpful adjunct to the blog.

And so, I vow to start reading real books again and unplug some. It’s time to reign in my recent FB addiction.