How to Quit Facebook Without Really Quitting

You've thought about it hundreds of times as you spiral down the neverending drain of statuses and photo albums. As you take yet another pointless quiz or correct stupid peoples' grammar. I should just quit. I should quit facebook.
Maybe you've even deactivated your account once or twice. But then, that's really the only way you can communicate with a certain family member, or you have to run a page for your business. So you're kind of stuck with having an account. And you're sure, that like everything else these days, it's slowly killing you.

Are YOU sick of facebook, but can't just leave? Here's a few tips to help you be less addicted.

1. Change your password. Either to something you could never remember, like f830CC3ig302n38v238d--and don't click "stay logged in" or "remember me" buttons, so that you have to go find the password (write it down on paper, don't put it on your computer where you can easily copy and paste) every time you want to log in. OR change it to something that will give you a guilt trip  while being easy enough to remember, but long enough to keep out hackers. Something like... "mostdefinitelyallmyworkbedone" or "irealizethatiamabouttolose30minutesofmylife" so that when you type it, you think twice about whether you want to go through with this.

2. Unfriend. Probably not everyone, but lose the guys you met on vacation that one time and the random people you never ever would need to talk to. Let's be honest, they aren't really your friends. As for those who it would be rude to unfriend but you really don't want to hear from... hide 'em. The idea here is to minimize your main page "catch up time" since we are aiming for more time between logins. While you're at it, unlike or hide all those pages whose content you don't care to see. Updates from your best friend, keep. Updates from Oreos? Who needs 'em?

3. Disable, disable, disable. Go through and disable notifications from games you don't play anymore. Or, if you're like me and ready to be done with apps and games completely (no, aunt Sarah, I am not going to play Farmville, or chefville, or hairville, or waterville, or Send a Hugville... EVER), just disable platform altogether. It's a lot less daunting, especially if you get a lot of invites. Oh yeah, you can also stay logged out of the chat feature.

4. Barricade the door. Make it difficult to get to facebook. As mentioned earlier, don't stay logged in or have the browser remember your password. Don't leave the tab running. Remove it from your bookmarks. Be aware of all those things that you know lead you to facebook... make it harder to get there.

5. Think twice before posting. Try the less interactive Twitter for your short thoughts (as long as you are okay with them being public on the web), or blogging for your longer ones. The less you interact with facebook, the less it can interact with you. This makes for less notifications to sift through when you visit. And if you can shave facebook down to only the necessities, it won't be such an interesting place to waste your time anymore.

Now that you have much more free time, you might try taking up a hobby you've always admired. You're welcome. And good luck on those soon to be rare quests into facebookland. We applaud you, brave adventurer.