Opinion

Farewell, Facebook (Photos)

I grew up today. A little. No, it wasn’t my birthday. No, I didn’t get a new job. No, I didn’t pass some other twenty-something milestone. All I did was update my Facebook privacy settings…

I graduated from college a little over a year ago. And over the past year, I’ve seen myself and others begin to really grow up. I’ve seen people get engaged, start full-time jobs and move out of state. But I’ve noticed another thing. Some of my peers have begun to clean up their online personas too.

Facebook

For our generation, it’s become almost necessary. No respectable employer or graduate school wants to see evidence of someone’s good time via Google. While I didn’t go as far as to (gasp) delete my Facebook, or any other social media account, I did make my tagged photos and a few albums completely private. So that only I could see them. It may sound kind of silly, but I felt like I was ending a chapter of my life… the online chapter, I guess. The chapter where past was readily available for all my 500+ friends to peruse. Not that my college days were remotely damning, but I want to begin new friendships with a clean slate. While I know there will still be parties ahead and good times ahead, I also know there will be more of a filter. My default, for instance, will likely never again be a picture of me and my BFFs clutching beers, and throwing up deuces in the middle of a red, inflatable kiddie pool. (Which, is probably for the best).

The feeling may be a little bittersweet, but it’s also kind of refreshing. It’s nice to think I may be getting back to the pre-Facebook era. You know, the MySpace days. (Just kidding, no one wants to go back there. Sorry, Tom.) I mean the days before having to pretend you didn’t see embarrassing photos of someone on Facebook when you run into them in real life. I know these days will never completely return, but it feels nice to regain some semblance of anonymity.

So, while I officially graduated from college last year, maybe this year, I’m unofficially graduating from the school of Holding Onto My Party Pics/Past. Maybe I stayed an extra semester or two, but I think I can finally say farewell. Because I’m an adult now. And I guess I have a real life to figure out.

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