Is Sean Pollock the only student at Purdue without Facebook?

As finals come closer, are you looking for some motivation to keep that phone down and to stop checking the news feed constantly for updates and finally get that hours of pending work done?

Meet Sean Pollock. A self motivated, well restrained, hard working, and an extremely passionate Boilermaker ready to serve in the armed forces.

Sean gave us a peek into his life without Facebook. I must admit — it takes a lot of determination to keep yourself away from falling into a lifestyle that is led by literally everyone around you.

In a decade where people’s lives revolve around social media, what made you decide not to be associated with Facebook?

I’ve found that the use of Facebook and other social media platforms are too often a cause for procrastination and a gateway to creating drama. More importantly however, Facebook rids people of much of the personal interaction that used to take its place.

There’s no longer a need to ask anyone how their day is or to share their vacation photos with you in person. This site eliminates the need for personal interaction, something I hold in high regard.

Do you ever feel like you’re missing out on your friends’ lives or feel disconnected to them?

Not really. Sure, I don’t hear about everything that’s going on all the time, but that kind of makes it nice because then we have something to talk about when we finally do see each other.

As for the level of connection, I believe that not hearing from someone doesn’t necessarily indicate that you don’t care or aren’t connected. In fact, being able to not speak or hear from someone all the time and still be able to pick up like nothing changed is a testament to the strength of the friendship.

Do you ever get curious to find more details about a person on Facebook? For example, lets say you met a girl and you forgot to take her number, has it ever crossed your mind to find her through Facebook?

Sure, particularly in today’s age of social media it’s incredibly common to look people up on Facebook who you don’t know. However, I feel like this is also one more way to rid ourselves of the excitement and the mystery that comes with getting to know someone.

Most people only like to post the best parts of themselves online. The profile is generally a false representation of who the person really might be.

I know some people, including me, who check Facebook at least twice a day. How do you use your time more effectively than spending it over a social media website?

Most of my time is concentrated on school work and physical fitness, at least during the weekdays. Beyond classwork and going to the CoRec, I also have a large time commitment to Purdue NROTC.

How will Facebook prove to hinder your success in your chosen career path?

The plan is currently to be in the Navy. We’re taught from day one to be constant professionals. Being tagged in photos where someone else might be doing something inappropriate has been a huge issue for others. By leaving myself off of Facebook, it just lessens the potential that someone can see something that may be misinterpreted.

Will you change your decision to be affiliated with Facebook in the future?

I suppose anything is possible but I don’t see it as particularly likely. At the moment I can’t foresee myself making an account.

Do acquaintances, friends or family question your decisions regarding Facebook?

My friends used to, but when I explain to them why I don’t have it, they usually agree that it’s a waste of time.

If you could join Facebook anonymously for a day, would you consider experiencing it?

Possibly, but I don’t think it’d really be necessary. I’ve been on the site enough times with friends and family that I understand it pretty well. I’m not sure I could get much more out of a day with it that I haven’t already experienced.

Would you say you inspire people to be different like you?

I’ve had a lot of people say they respect my choice or wish they could get rid of it but not with any great sense of conviction. To add to that, an equal number of people very much enjoy social media and have no wish to stop using it.

Were you ever a part of any social media website during your middle school/ high school?

I had a Twitter for a couple days to see what that was like and decided I really don’t want to hear what people were doing every ten minutes. If it wasn’t important enough to call or text me personally, than it’s probably not important enough for me to go find out online.