For the background on the torturous experiment I'm embarking on, please read:

http://open.salon.com/blog/the_noun/2009/06/01/into_the_facebookless_void

Day 1 - I changed my Facebook status to say I'm going to be under the radar for the next while, and to phone or email to get in touch with me. I felt a little nervous, oddly, because it's a pretty vague message. But if anyone really wants to talk to me that much, they'll now know how to find me.

The Background

To further explain why I've decided to do this, I should probably explain a little more about who I am, and how I behave and interact with my electronic devices. For those of you who don't know me, I'm from a rural area on Cape Breton Island. We didn't have cable television (or anything more than the national broadcaster, for that matter) and though I left home just when the web was gaining popularity, my parents back home still can't get high speed internet unless they're willing to spring for their own orbiting satellite. I spent entire days outside in the yard, by the lake, or in the woods near my house. I read books as if their very existence was threatened and generally did kid things.

But later, once I'd embarked on more career-oriented jobs (as opposed to the myriad service-oriented jobs I held until I figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up), I found myself in front of a computer to do my work all day every day. Just as I do know. I spend eight to ten hours of each and every day in front of a monitor. Between that, and my mobile phone, I spend a lot of time in what I perceive to be my virtual life. They're my primary means of communication, but at the end of the day, I find it a bit much. I find I can no longer keep a thought in my head for more than a few seconds, and just a few seconds later, I can't remember what the thought was.

I started what I'm affectionately terming my "adventure in analogue" with Facebook because I can't give up being online wholesale because of work. So, unless I'm on vacation, I have to be online. But the 'Book is something I normally spend way too much time looking at. I click on it without even thinking about it, without consciously having something to look at. I just click around as if my finger needs the exercise. And trust me, as an editor, it does NOT need the exercise. My backside? Yes. My mouse finger? Nay nay.

Today's Results

My friend sent me a link to a photo of the new guys she's making out with these days. My finger hovered over the mouse button, about to click, until I saw the root of the site: Facebook. This would mean I'd have to log in to look at it, and I'm quite sure the temptation is too great. I'll somehow justify a reason to "quickly look at my own profile, just this once, to make sure people get what I mean from my status". So I let it be.

I was tempted quite a few times to log in and see if I have any new full messages. Not wall posts or invitations to listen to punk rock singles or send gifts to people. But real bona fide messages. Believe it or not, I didn't succumb. Although my mouse most assuredly hovered over the link.

I honestly thought today would be terrible, but despite a few near misses, I'm okay. Iam extra busy at work these days, with deadlines hurtling themselves at breakneck speed towards the wazoo, which might explain the lack of FBDT's.

Or maybe it's just too soon.