Day five: Coming off the social networking crack

I’ve almost completed a week of social networking cold turkey – it’s been awful, and I hated almost every bit. Getting emails about stuff happening without me (I *hate* stuff happening without me), people following me on Twitter and not being able to check them out (was therealalgore the real Al Gore?), and still being none the wiser about what the hell my dad is Twittering about (Only Fools and Horses? David Bowie?) – it’s been hell.

Having said that, it has made me wonder if I need all this information about other people in my life. I toyed with the idea of not reinstalling the apps on my phone, keeping the Facebook toolbar off my Firefox and OutTwit out of my Outlook. For about a minute.

I miss the people I follow, and even the tenuous Facebook friends – they’re mostly pretty funny people, and they sometimes do interesting stuff (especially you. You’re the *most* interesting). Social networking actually isn’t the scourge of a generation that the Daily Mail would have you believe. It’s a way of keeping up with people and their lives, and way of sharing the pain of walking into a lamp post on the way to work with all the world. And what you’ve had for lunch, it’s also a way of sharing what you had for lunch with the world.

I should probably stop doing that, actually.

So there you have it – that’s what I’ve learned this week. It’s ok to Twitter, just don’t Twitter about food.

And just like that, I’ve convinced myself that it would be ok if I reinstalled everything this afternoon.