99 Days Of Freedom. A Journey Away from Social Media.

I, Mathieu Hubin, have decided to embark on a journey away from Facebook. For 99 days, I will be logged out and will not use Facebook except for messenger. This is only to talk to my colleagues from The Rust Belt Tribune. I will not be responding to private messages by anyone other than TRBT staff.

During this time I plan to reconnect with the world the way I used to when I was a child. Back when if you wanted to "Instant message" someone, you had to pick a phone up off the wall, dial a number that you either memorized or wrote down, and actually speak to the person.

If you wanted to see the person's face, you actually had to be at the same place at the same time to see each other. You had to wait days, if not weeks for a letter to arrive in the mail. It was a simpler time, but I believe the relationships were so much more pure, more... real. I am trying to get back to that now. I want to see people, not pictures. I want to hear speech, not read it on a screen.

Thus, I am saying goodbye to Facebook for 99 days. This is a challenge because we are so used to that instant connection that we have forgotten what real ones feel like.

It is so easy to jump on a computer, log into Facebook, and there are all of your "friends" just waiting for you. It does feel nice to have 135 friends. Honestly, when you really look at it, how many of those "friends" would be willing to drive 5 minutes? How about 10 minutes or 20?

How many would spend hours on the road just to spend an hour with you?

Those are the people I am looking for in this journey. One thing I truly believe about Facebook is that it has created a world where the word "friend" is thrown about so flippantly, it has lost almost all of it's meaning. Will "Kindness", "Understanding", and "Love" also fall prey to the systemic degradation of our language?

If you think a friend is someone who liked your comment, carry on. If you think it requires more than a click of a mouse to be a "friend", I encourage you to join me in my journey. Let us all experience 99 days of freedom from Facebook. (Photos and Article by: Mathieu C. Hubin)