For the longest time, every story about Facebook seemed to be along the lines of “It’s Taking Over the World.” Then the craziest thing happened: People stopped caring as much about what “friends” were eating, wearing or ranting about. Now, according to a study from the Pew Research Center, more than 60 percent of adult Facebook users have decided to log-off for an extended period of time.
And, the phenomenon, termed a “Facebook vacation,” seems to be catching on. More than a quarter of Facebook users said they play to spend less time on the site during 2013, which indicates that the number of Facebook vacationers will rise.
Although disinterest in the content was one reason for a Facebook vacation, there were plenty more motives for signing off. Leading causes included not having enough time, feeling frustrated with the drama and realizing that it wasn’t a good method of genuinely connecting with others. (Hmm… Wonder if Catfish has anything to do with that?)
Lee Rainie, who co-authored the Pew report, said that, with a limited amount of time in the day, some people are simply choosing to spend their social networking minutes on a site that offers different functions.
“For some, the central calculation is how they spend their time. For others, it’s more of a social reckoning as they ask themselves, ‘What are my friends doing and thinking, and how much does that matter to me?’ They are adding up the pluses and minuses on a kind of networking balance sheet,” Rainie told Yahoo News.
Naturally, different age groups looked at Facebook in different ways. However, those results may be a bit surprising: 42 percent of Facebook users ages 18-29, 34 percent of users ages 30-49 and only 23 percent of users aged 50 and older said the amount of time they spend on Facebook has decreased during the past year.
I fall into the 18-29 category and although I have spent less time on Facebook in the past year, I don’t have any plans to give it up for an extended period of time in the near future. What can I say! I’ve used Facebook since my sophomore year of high school back in 2005… It’s like a bad habit.
Could you ever take a Facebook vacation? Have you taken a Facebook vacation?
