Facebook and Sobriety
 

I was just wondering if anyone uses Facebook as part of their support network for stopping drinking? I've found most people I have on Facebook at best disinterested in my efforts to quit booze, and at worst downright hostile. I decided to shut it down and start afresh. I have no friends on it yet but was going to use it as a sort of diary amongst other things and keep a track of my latest effort at quitting. Does anyone else do something similar and are their any useful pages or groups on there (I found the forum one).

I was the opposite and stopped using FB when I got sober.I'm in the UK too and I got fed up with the constant posts about drinking all the time,getting drunk etc etc etc as well as the inane,self indulgent,egotistical stuff so many people write about. The whole concept and ethos does not sit well with my sobriety. For online support I use SR where I've found like minded people who've been where I've been and offer true support and advice.I'm also very private and would not want my friends,work colleagues etce knowing my private business and innermost struggles

sorry-it's probably not what you wanted to hear-just giving a different viewpoint.FB is a bit of a pethate of mine:gaah :)

I just went to Facebook and did a quick search. I found a page for Alcoholics Anonymous and I found several other groups by searching for "recovery."

Hi, James.

I rarely use FB at all ,and don't find it to be a useful tool in sobriety because there's a lot of activity going on there that actually involves booze.

Besides, if people don't understand you problem chances are hight they won't support you.

Posting and blogging here keeps me accountable and give a chance to share my thoughts with people who know exactly what I am talking about and can give feedback and relate.

Best wishes to you.

Keep posting.

Hi James. I deleted my entire FB account about 5 months after I got sober...

I'm not sure about putting too much personal sobriety stuff on there. I realize you are starting fresh on FB but people still do weird things with information they see. It may not be in your best interest. Don't know!

SR is a good blogging site for sobriety support I feel :)

I'm beginning to think twice about it now...

I don't post about alcoholism or sobriety there, too public. I use FB to see pictures of friends and family. I do have a couple friends on FB that I met in online sobriety and they post inspiring things and Bible verses that are helpful. I just ignore the other stuff.

Hi James,
I think anytime FB is used for any kind of support you risk the backlash no matter what you do. Think religious and political view pages.

I use SR for support and FB to reflect my ever growing truly interesting life of pictures and stories that don't involve me being the drunk idiot anymore. My family and real friends were bored with those anyway.

Just me.

Do you really want everyone you know to know exactly what you're doing in recovery??

My recovery is a very personal journey.

I think I might stay away after all. This forum is obviously more worthwhile for support, and I won't be adding my friends on it for the reason ReadyAtLast mentioned (amongst others) - the constant drinking posts. One comment on my last account was "quitting is for losers" - who needs enemies when you've got friends like mine!

For some reason I keep getting alcohol related suggested posts on facebook. I don't get how it all works but as soon as I got a dog I started getting dog related advertisements too. And according to facebook half of my friends are alcoholics, just judging on what they post... I have liked pages with inspirational quotes on them just to de booze my newsfeed.

For me it is without question something that shouldn't be done. I've got lots of reasons for that, but it's my opinion. Don't remember what this article says cuz I read it a long time ago, but whatever it does it's from AA general service comitee. For those who believe in and respect the traditions, it's a group conscience take on the whole thing...

http://www.aa.org/en_pdfs/mg-18_internet.pdf

OT, but came up in my search for the article above. :)

AA Destroying The Social Lives Of Thousands Of Once-Fun Americans | Video | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Yeah, I've deactivated it. I don't think it's such a good idea. If nothing else, Facebook is a massive time sap. I could be doing other things.

I use facebook for AA/Recovery, inspirational,
my favorite music and artists, flowers, animals,
tattoos, golf, motorcycles......

There is a huge catalogue of choices that are
not alcohol related. Many many, many likes
you can have and enjoy. NO ALCOHOL where
I look and share. It's a plus for my 22yrs sobriety. :)

I do this for work, I'm not a Facebook junkie by choice!

Hypo -- Facebook now works with one of the companies that Google uses to focus its ads: Chango Deal With Facebook Uses Google Data - Business Insider

Which basically means that all the user data that already slants what you see on Google now affects Facebook ads too. I do all my sobriety related stuff in a private browsing tab so that I don't get overwhelmed by ads for rehab centers.

James -- Sounds like you've already come to this conclusion... but FB isn't the right place for a sobriety journal. Facebook is irrevocably tied to your full name and internet persona, and they have made it very clear that they believe that privacy is an antiquated concept. It's already public enough, but it's impossible to predict in a few years how data will be linked even further. Nothing should be put on FB, including in the private messages, that you would not want a future employer finding when they search your name in a few years. Given how touchy addiction is as a subject, I think it's best to avoid in a public forum. Keep it to email, SR, and an anonymous blog on Blogger or Tumblr if you'd like... ideally with a screen name you don't use elsewhere on the web.

I de-activated Facebook a couple weeks ago and it has made a HUGE difference in my life. I no longer compare myself to others, look up my ex or other old friends, look at pictures of parties people are going to, etc. I think Facebook is tailor-made for some people to enjoy, and absolute poison for people like me.

Deleted my Facebook account for a number of reasons.
1. Sick of people portraying themselves as having perfect lives. No one does yet all my fb friends seem to want me to think they do.
2. Sick of seeing pictures of friends out drinking.
3. Sick of reading posts about booze.
4. Sick of getting invited to alcohol related parties.
5. Sick of reading self absorbed, pretentious posts which 99.9 % of the time were just posted to give someone a confidence boast and aren't how they truly feel.
6. Sick of seeing people tagged in all the spots I used frequent.

Basically as you can see fb made me sick!!!!!!! It's a totally pointless site in my opinion.

Facebook is not for me. Not the old drunk me, or the new sober me. I used it for a year or two. Besides for embarrassing myself with drunken post. Facebook to me is a place where people invent false lives. Everyone acts happier and looks like they have a better life than they really do.

It should be called Fakebook in my opinion.

I love Facebook. And FB has followed me through my addiction. When I was ramping up my drinking, all my drinking buddies were a part of my friends. When I isolated, I cleaned house. Now that I'm in recovery, a lot of my friends are also in recovery. I have a couple sprinklings of grumpy cat and hair products, I now have a newsfeed now of positivity.