Thanks Storm and I agree. Before facebook ever even existed...I was one of those people that deliberately didn't watch the news or stick around and listen to upsetting stories others may be chewing on. It started out innocently enough....but I think it's just way to negative. I find that many people seem to enjoy broadcasting the latest tragedy....I am not one of those people. Also...it's not that I don't care....I absolutely do....but I have enough going on in my own little world for it to be bombarded with things that I otherwise would probably never even hear about it....if it weren't for Facebook....so I think I may just need to stop looking at it all together. One small example of what I am talking about is this: My son will be able to get his license in a few weeks....I am a nervous wreck....anyway...on Facebook....I've already seen where 2 teens were killed in car accidents. I do not know the teens and I truly do feel for their families..it is an awful thing to have happen. And...I hope this doesn't come off as insensitive but if I didn't check facebook all the time then I would have never seen these stories that really had nothing to do with me. I"m reading that back and it's not coming out the way I'm intending it to. It's not that I don't care..I do...it's just information that ordinarily I probably would have never heard.....therefore not feeding the fire of anxiety that I have created within myself over the upcoming license. Thanks again.

Erica71, You explained it fine and it came out the right way that I understand what you are saying.
I do not like hearing about car accidents or murders of people my sons age because it reminds me of how vulnerable my sons are out there and how vulnerable we all are and death is a reality of life.
Not wanting to check out FB or watching the news is not that we are burying our heads in the sand. It's that we need to minimize the amount of information we expose ourselves too.
We can get overloaded and also obsess on certain things especially tragedies. It does feed the fire of anxiety. It's best that we did take a step back and limit our time on these things for our health.
I go on FB once a week. It's good for me. I don't have many friends anyway. lol

Sometimes TMI can be overwhelming. I find this to be the same thing when I feel an ache or pain and go on the medical websites and see that I have all the symptoms of some major diseases, when in fact, I don't, it's my anxiety and panic disorder that goes into overload.

If you can function w/o FB, I would say delete your account or not read it every day, maybe once a week or so.

I think facebook in general is just becoming too much drama for everyone. But thanks to facebook, i did find out my fiance was cheating on me.. Im slowly finding out that most of whats on facebook isnt even true, people are making fake accounts, so much drama is started from facebook, people are even saying that if your in a relationship, then delete your facebook cause of all the problems it creates... Im one of those people that has to have their phone with them all the time, i freak if i dont.. Its doesnt cause me problems but i guess its just a comfort thing. If it causes you anxiety, then i would get rid of it. Less stress the better. Maybe you could try another social network like myspace or myyearbook.

remove those friends from fb that are posting about tragedies. it's ok. i have done the same thing. fb is supposed to be something fun for me and a way to stay in touch w/ friends and family. i also limit my friend list to those i really care and want to read about. we are in the age of information overload, and i think a lot of it is unnecessary. read what you need or want to, and get on w/ life. looks like i've duplicated what others have said, but i agree with what's said here. i still want to enjoy my fb, so have tried to remove the negative garbage...

Thanks for all of your replies...very much appreciated. Yeah...I think I will just check in once a week or so and let it go at that. Thanks again for the well thought out replies..Have a great day!! =)

And good.thing to do on Facebook is to limit your friends. A comedian started the National unfriend day. The comedian set out a bunch of rules your 'friends' on be a part of. I forget all the rules but one and it is a simple one. Unfriend anybody you would not lend $50 to. It will cut down on all but the most important friends.
Here is a website about it.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/210051/jimmy_kimmel_calls_for_national_unfriend_day_on_nov_17.html

I just "cleaned up" my FB account today. If I haven't talked to some of the "friends" on my account, I unfriended them. Don't worry-they don't get notified and proabably won't even notice the change.

Also, I rarely watch the news for the same "overwhelm" feeling you are talking about. I am trying to focus on the positive things in my life and the NEWS is not one of them so turned off the TV!

Thanks everyone..thanks Matthew..I'll check that out and I hear ya Kacc! =)

I like facebook because it's a good distraction (and it gives me an easy way to procrastinate the stuff I really should be doing lol) but I can definitely see what you mean. For the most part my facebook feed is useless drama but occasionally something tragic happens within the community and it can set me off to see people constantly discussing it. But I definitely think it wouldn't be a bad thing to take a break from it.

Oh I know exactly what you mean! I just want to stop getting on so much, it's so hard to not do so though. Especially since I'm a stay at home mom and all my friends and family are out of state or 'online' friends. I have such a hard time clicking that X or not turning the computer on. I'd actually almost admit to being addicted to the internet. I can tell myself, OK, I'll wake up and I won't turn the computer on until I get this and this and this done. I can do it, but it doesn't last long. My anxiety levels go up if I see something being posted and I don't like it. I even quit watching the news because my anxiety would go through the roof hearing of all the bad things going on! I've had to delete family off of Facebook because I felt excluded. Sometimes it's better to do that kind of stuff. I just went through and deleted a lot of people, but could really delete a lot more, I guess I feel 'scared' too!

I was on facebook for about 2 years, i thought at first it was good cause i could socialise in comfort but it turned into a habit and focal point of my life and some of the poeple i met on there were bad news, also some of the pictures are horrendous! One of the best things that came from my relapse was the ending of my facebook account i dont miss it at all, definitely to much drama and crap and not a lot of friendships!

I can understand exactly, I only use Facebook now for the word games. I can see where it is beneficial for some when used in a good way, for me it caused all sorts if issues! I also deleted a lot of people, even family members. It really bothers me to the point that I cannot resist saying something to them when people, especially family members post provocative photos of themselves, then proceed to announce when their spouse will not be home, etc. People don't think about what they put on there or who all can see it, you are right it is TMI...

Since deleting & blocking some, It has helped me!! You can also "unsubscribe" to all of their feeds so that it does not automatically show up while still keeping them as a friend if you so choose...good luck!!