Where it all began

Hello, My name is Deborah and I am addicted to Facebook.  As silly as it sounds, it's actually really hard to say that.  I probably go on the site more than most of my friends and I am the first one to deny that I am actually addicted.  But the proof is in the posts.  392 friends  383 pictures tagged, the first one being from 2005.  Hundreds of picture comments.  Daily status updates.  My entire life is just one click away.
Last year, I started to slowly ween myself off of the site.  My 25 photo albums were cut down to just 1.  My 480 friends were cut down by 100 in a mass layoff.  Status updates became less frequent.  But as hard as I tried, I just couldn't break the cycle of checking it everyday, creeping on peoples profiles and just generally being involved in the Facebook world.  It became all too consuming.
I finally started to want to make a change the day that I got married.  My husband I and started feeling like celebrities being chased by the paparazzi.  From the minute I was in my dress, there were cell phones and cameras snapping pics, and by the time we walked down the aisle, several of these pictures were already on Facebook for the world to see.  This is one of the most important days of my life and its now being blasted all over the internet for my 392 friends to comment on or "like".  I was not comfortable with this.
Then there was my college reunion.  I started realizing how uncomfortable conversations are when you have to pretend you don't already  know exactly whats going on in someones life that you haven't seen for five years.  "So, Tom, hows your dad?  The surgery go ok?  And I see you got engaged!  Loved the pics!"
That's when I started to realize how much this social medium has changed the way people communicate.    Yes, it is a great tool to reconnect with people in your life, but are we really communicating?  How does this change other dynamics in our life?  Are people more likely to keep a job if they're friends with their boss on Facebook?  How is it possible that on one hand we have freedom of speech, but on the other hand, a bad picture online can cost you a job or even a relationship?  Do people feel any validation from the freedom of expression they have on Facebook?  What about the pressure to be funny/witty/intelligent?  What are we gaining from Facebook and what are we losing?  These are things I plan on finding out this next year.
So, effective September 18th, I will be deactivating my account.  I am taking myself out of the loop.  This experiment, I hope, will not only be enlightening but I also hope to correlate my experiences with my thesis for my masters in Communication Studies.
Please follow me on this journey!  Spread the word around however you can, because as of Sunday, I won't be able to promote myself on Facebook! THE IRONY!