One of my good friends is studying Facebook and asked if I would volunteer to give up my Facebook for two weeks. I agreed, finding the opportunity interesting. Nearing the end of those two weeks, I’ve found out several things, some of which I expected and some of which surprised me.

Deactivating your Facebook is hilariously difficult. First, you have to find the link to deactivate your account (I ended up having to Google this).

Then, Facebook shows you a montage of friends who will “miss” you when you leave Facebook. I found it slightly creepy that Facebook has somehow been keeping tabs on whose pages I visit and whom I chat with most, but I forged ahead and deactivated my account.

I ended up reactivating it two hours later — not because I’d broken down, but because I found it almost impossible get onto my music site, Spotify, because my account is linked to Facebook. I saw the “Welcome Back to Facebook” email in my inbox and sighed, deciding to keep my Spotify but just not log in to Facebook for the rest of the study.

Later, as I surfed the Internet Facebook-less, I found that almost everything I came across had links to Facebook. All my accounts with other sites gave me the option of linking back to Facebook. When I search for directions to businesses, the businesses’ Facebook pages sometimes came up higher on the Google list than the businesses’ actual webpages.

I must confess that I’m an avid Facebook user, but I’m not huge on using it on my computer. I Facebook while I walk, while I’m waiting in line and even when I’m trying to get myself out of bed in the morning. However, I found getting rid of my Facebook didn’t affect me too much socially. I go to a small school; I run into most of the people I’d talk to online.

Only my sister and my best friend had trouble getting in touch with me because Facebook chat was our main line of communication, but we found ways around it (though my sister outright told me that I was stupid for deactivating Facebook).

Groups I am a part of started emailing me instead. I had a lot of time on my hands. Yet it was the pragmatic aspects of Facebook that ended up hitting me in the face. Facebook is fun, but it’s also a business.

Will I eventually reinstate my Facebook? Yes, though I recognize the value of a social media-less life. This has been an educational experience for me.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, no one “missed” me like Facebook said they would. I don’t think they even noticed I was gone.

Kylee McIntyre can be reached at [email protected]