Plan to take a vacation from Facebook? You aren't alone

(FILES) A view of and Apple iPhone displaying the Facebook app's splash screen in front of the login page May 10, 2012 in Washington, DC. More than half of US Facebook members have taken breaks from the leading social network, with the top reason being they are just too busy, according to a study released February 5, 2013. About 61 percent of US users said they had taken time off from Facebook at some point, with 27 percent planning to spend less time on it in the coming year, the Pew Research Center said. The largest group -- 21 percent -- said they had taken a break because they were too busy. Other reasons included being "tired of stupid comments," "crazy" friends, boredom, and having it cause love life problems. AFP PHOTO / Karen BLEIER /FILES KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images less (FILES) A view of and Apple iPhone displaying the Facebook app's splash screen in front of the login page May 10, 2012 in Washington, DC. More than half of US Facebook members have taken breaks from the leading ... more Photo: KAREN BLEIER, Staff Photo: KAREN BLEIER, Staff Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Plan to take a vacation from Facebook? You aren't alone 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

Although Facebook usage remains strong overall, a new study shows a significant portion of members have or are planning to cut back time they spend on the social network.

About 27 percent of Facebook users - and 38 percent of those aged 18-29 - said they planned to spend less time on the social network this year, and 61 percent have at one time or another taken a "Facebook vacation" lasting several weeks or more.

The vast majority - 72 percent - said they planned to spend the same amount or more time on Facebook. Still, the results of the survey conducted by the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project could be an indication that for many, Facebook fatigue may be setting in.

"These data show that people are trying to make new calibrations in their life to accommodate new social tools," said Lee Rainie, Pew Internet Project director and a co-author of the new report.

"For some, the central calculation is how they spend their time," he said. "For others, it's more of a social reckoning as they ask themselves, 'What are my friends doing and thinking and how much does that matter to me?' They are adding up the pluses and minuses on a kind of networking balance sheet and they are trying to figure out how much they get out of connectivity versus how much they put into it."

The phone survey of 1,006 people conducted in December showed 67 percent of all adults who went online used a social network of some kind, up from 47 percent in 2009. The number of social network users represented about half of all adults in the United States.

Of Facebook users, 59 percent said the service remained as important to them as a year ago and 53 percent said they spent the same amount of time on Facebook as last year.

But 20 percent of all online adults said they had once used Facebook, but were no longer members.

And of the 61 percent who took a break from Facebook at one time or another, 21 percent said they were too busy or didn't have time for social networking, the study said. Another 10 percent said they "just weren't interested or just didn't like it," while 10 percent called it a "waste of time."

About 9 percent tired of "too much drama" or gossip from their friends, and 8 percent said they worried about spending too much of their time on Facebook.

The study quoted some of those who had Facebook fatigue as saying, "I was tired of stupid comments," that they had "crazy friends. I did not want to be contacted," or "it got boring."

Others said, "You get burned out on it after a while," "I gave it up for Lent," "People were (posting) what they had for dinner," "I got harassed by someone from my past who looked me up" and "It caused problems in my relationship."

Only 4 percent took a break because of privacy or security concerns.

Women were more likely to attach increased importance and to spend more time on Facebook, the survey said.

"On the other hand, some 42 percent of Facebook users ages 18-29 and 34 percent of those ages 30-49 say that the time they spend on Facebook on a typical day has decreased over the last year," the report said. "These are both significantly higher than the 23 percent of users age 50 and older who report decreased Facebook usage over the same time period."