Why I left Facebook

It's a blurry picture. You can see just a bit of a flared nose, and strands of hair covering what's supposed to be a heavily made up eye. The smile is supposed to be the main focus of the picture, and it is what stands out. A side smile, with around 8 teeth showing, and a hint of a dimple on the cheek. There's something black stuck in between the last two teeth.
There are 107 likes and comments like 'hi beauty queen ;)', 'omg, why u do this to me? y u so pretty? lou u :*', and 'omg. U. R. HAWWT.'
OMG. But no, you are not.
Did I mention this was the appreciation received within 5 minutes of posting that pic?
Facebook. Blue, cool, connecting.
For many people, Facebook and loneliness go together as well as curd and noodles, that is to say, they don't go together at all. And so there's no doubt, that when I told people I left Facebook since I felt lonely, they looked at me like I had come from outer space in a Hawaiian skirt. But I was being completely honest about why I had left the popular networking site.
I think two things did it.
The first was that ... well, there are always these best friends who keep posting pictures with each other, labeling each other as 'sista', 'bfffffff', and 'omg, how am i gonna live without u?'...
And you know, it's all great for them, it really is. I just didn't have anyone like that.
I mean I do, I have friends who really do care about me, who put up with my stupidities and mistakes, and still love me. Just not on Facebook. And when you don't have people like that on Facebook, you feel startlingly insignificant to others. There comes a time when you're just watching others put up those photos, and long captions, filled with these mentions of inside jokes, but you never seem to be included in them. It's like you're a part of it, and yet you're not. You exist, but not many people seem to care.
And that's when the loneliness started.
The second thing just helped reinforce this feeling.
It was the profile picture of a girl (who's pretty no doubt) which had gotten some 80+ likes. The thing about the picture was that it was fairly simple, and sure she looked good (otherwise why would she have put it up?), but what struck me was this: if this picture had been mine, I doubt I would have gotten anywhere above 30 likes.
These realizations do things to your self-confidence, it makes you doubt yourself in ways which aren't healthy. You look at yourself in the mirror and try to find out what's wrong with you. Is it your off-center nose? Or the moles on your chin? No, you may not be the prettiest girl in the world, but you had always liked your face...till now.
And so I hit the deactivate button, and I left.
Not that I didn't keep coming back, of course. It took me some time to detach myself from the site, and each time I came back, I scrolled through my news-feed nonstop, like how someone drinks water when they're super thirsty, swallowing huge gulps without stopping till the cup's been drained.
I still do go on FB sometimes, but I've realized that life without FB is not only possible, it's easier.
No, I'm not a popular kid who will get a 100 likes for a photo, or 30 likes for a smart-alecky comment.
No, I'm not pretty or super funny or entertaining.
I know that, but it helps when I'm not reminded of it every second I'm on the net.
So now, I'm just left with Gmail, and Blogger, of course.
Not as interesting, but honestly, not as depressing either.
Facebook is addictive and boring, attractive yet fairly useless at times, and connecting but lonely.
Facebook is a hub of contradictions - something people get to know only after joining the site.
So the next time there's a post on how great FB is, go ahead, and hit the like button. But I think I'll pass.