Breaking Up with Facebook?

It's been one month.
One month without reading through status feeds. One month without clicking "like". One month without logging in to Facebook.

My sister Erin gasped when she heard my plan and asked, "But how will you see all the cute kid pictures?" Others asked if this was just for Lent or forever. Still another, who has never been on Facebook, mentioned her aunt told her that because of that fact, "I don't know what to talk with you about" - like reading status updates had taken the place of the give and take of conversation.

I admit that there are things that I've missed, like wondering whether Ashley had her baby yet. Just as I was about to call or email someone to find out, husband Mel saved the day with an emailed birth announcement. Or learning that a number of coworkers had seen pictures of me before an organized run that I hadn't even looked over yet, which only served to remind me that you can run, but you can't hide from Facebook - parts of your life are there even if you no longer are. And a few times, people have suggested that I could log on "just to let people know you have a new blog post" (obviously not everyone is as enamored of RSS feeds as I am).

This morning on NPR I tuned in to a segment on Facebook quizzes - how marketing companies LOVE how we not only give them information about us through quizzes like "which Harry Potter character are you?" or "how would you die on Game of Thrones?", but we encourage and cajole friends to do the same. And I've long given up thinking that anything posted to Facebook ever remains private no matter how much you track their privacy changes.

I'm still not sure whether I will get back to my lurking. Even just 15 or 20 minutes a day seems excessive and it feels a little overwhelming to have the wave of voices cascading over me again. But I do miss those videos of my favorite little ones...

Would you ever give up social networking?