“Dude, you won’t believe what I just saw on Facebook." “OMG look at his relationship status- he’s single!” “Yeah, I was on Facebook for like three hours last night.” Is it just me, or is Facebook becoming an obsession? And taking the place of regular, face-to-face, social interaction?
Facebook. Something revolutionary just a few years ago; today it’s a verb, a multi-billion dollar company, and a way of life. With 500 million “residents”, if it were a country it’d have the third-largest population in the world. Everyone has jumped on the bandwagon. Many kids have experienced the weirdness of “friending” their grandparents online. Every business, from small local grocery stores to huge corporations, seem to have a Facebook. “Check us out on Facebook!” scream the inside of Abercrombie bags. You can’t get away! Personally, I’m tired of hearing the word. Facebook. How would our lives be different if it hadn’t been invented at all? Slowed-down a bit; less stressful? It’s hard to live in the real world when you’re always wondering what’s going on on Facebook. I know this from personal experience, and from observation.
It’s frightening how people, people that I know, will talk to someone on Facebook, or even meet someone on Facebook, that maybe they’ve seen once or twice, but don’t really know. And they’ll talk for an hour and suddenly they’re- friends? Like real friends? And they probably wouldn’t say Hi if they saw each other in the hallway but they find themselves having heart-to-hearts over chat? Yeah, there’s something wrong there.
Facebook’s cheapening things too. Say someone’s at a concert. They’re too busy taking pictures and videos and posting to actually enjoy the moment. They care more about showing the moment to other people. This happens all the time. Facebook is often a platform to brag, or to vent; and it’s astonishing how much gossip and drama you can run across. Maybe some don’t understand that everyone can see wall posts? Plus, we’ve all heard the stories about someone breaking up with someone else by just changing their relationship status, and if they’re considerate, maybe sending the former significant-other a message- “It’s over.” Ouch.
Increasingly, instead of people sharing about their lives on Facebook; their lives are Facebook! Two words come to mind: ridiculous, and pathetic. Also, a little bit creepy. When you think about it, sitting there staring at a screen for hours on end- how is that living your life? Sometimes I just wait for the Twilight Zone music to start playing, it’s that weird.
There’s even a disorder called FAD- Facebook Addiction Disorder, and it’s real. How sad is that? A psychologist named Dr. Michael Fenichel, who has published writings about the “disorder” online, says Facebook use turns into FAD when it “overtakes daily activities like your normal function, eating, working, waking up, sleeping and many more”. It’s become something of a drug!
The overuse of Facebook has grown even more with the explosion of the smartphone trend. People with mobile Facebook tend to check it twice as much as everyone else. And since a good percentage of teens check their page 10 times a day, that means a teen with an iPhone might very well be checking theirs 20 times a day!
8% of large companies report firing an employee because of misuse of social media! Is changing your status worth your job? And that’s another thing: statuses. I’ve seen many instances where people regret posting something, and rightly so. Some things are meant to stay in your head! Maybe logging onto Facebook isn’t the smartest idea when you’re seething with anger! Yet, we’ve become a people who, without thinking, feel the need to reveal personal information to the world. Does anyone value privacy, like real privacy, anymore? Just wondering.
I’m not saying Facebook is bad, exactly, but I do feel much could be gained by giving it a rest now and then. Contrary to the rest of the planet, I don’t necessarily view it as an asset. Sure, it can be fun and beneficial to catch up with old friends and show faraway relatives what you’re up to, but- hours spent playing Farmville and stalking exes and obsessively checking updates? You can’t say that’s beneficial, in any way. I think it’d be great, and a very interesting social experiment, if Mark Zuckerberg shut Facebook down for a week, just a week, forcing us all to log off. Could you survive? I know I could.
Facebook. Something revolutionary just a few years ago; today it’s a verb, a multi-billion dollar company, and a way of life. With 500 million “residents”, if it were a country it’d have the third-largest population in the world. Everyone has jumped on the bandwagon. Many kids have experienced the weirdness of “friending” their grandparents online. Every business, from small local grocery stores to huge corporations, seem to have a Facebook. “Check us out on Facebook!” scream the inside of Abercrombie bags. You can’t get away! Personally, I’m tired of hearing the word. Facebook. How would our lives be different if it hadn’t been invented at all? Slowed-down a bit; less stressful? It’s hard to live in the real world when you’re always wondering what’s going on on Facebook. I know this from personal experience, and from observation.
It’s frightening how people, people that I know, will talk to someone on Facebook, or even meet someone on Facebook, that maybe they’ve seen once or twice, but don’t really know. And they’ll talk for an hour and suddenly they’re- friends? Like real friends? And they probably wouldn’t say Hi if they saw each other in the hallway but they find themselves having heart-to-hearts over chat? Yeah, there’s something wrong there.
Facebook’s cheapening things too. Say someone’s at a concert. They’re too busy taking pictures and videos and posting to actually enjoy the moment. They care more about showing the moment to other people. This happens all the time. Facebook is often a platform to brag, or to vent; and it’s astonishing how much gossip and drama you can run across. Maybe some don’t understand that everyone can see wall posts? Plus, we’ve all heard the stories about someone breaking up with someone else by just changing their relationship status, and if they’re considerate, maybe sending the former significant-other a message- “It’s over.” Ouch.
Increasingly, instead of people sharing about their lives on Facebook; their lives are Facebook! Two words come to mind: ridiculous, and pathetic. Also, a little bit creepy. When you think about it, sitting there staring at a screen for hours on end- how is that living your life? Sometimes I just wait for the Twilight Zone music to start playing, it’s that weird.
There’s even a disorder called FAD- Facebook Addiction Disorder, and it’s real. How sad is that? A psychologist named Dr. Michael Fenichel, who has published writings about the “disorder” online, says Facebook use turns into FAD when it “overtakes daily activities like your normal function, eating, working, waking up, sleeping and many more”. It’s become something of a drug!
The overuse of Facebook has grown even more with the explosion of the smartphone trend. People with mobile Facebook tend to check it twice as much as everyone else. And since a good percentage of teens check their page 10 times a day, that means a teen with an iPhone might very well be checking theirs 20 times a day!
8% of large companies report firing an employee because of misuse of social media! Is changing your status worth your job? And that’s another thing: statuses. I’ve seen many instances where people regret posting something, and rightly so. Some things are meant to stay in your head! Maybe logging onto Facebook isn’t the smartest idea when you’re seething with anger! Yet, we’ve become a people who, without thinking, feel the need to reveal personal information to the world. Does anyone value privacy, like real privacy, anymore? Just wondering.
I’m not saying Facebook is bad, exactly, but I do feel much could be gained by giving it a rest now and then. Contrary to the rest of the planet, I don’t necessarily view it as an asset. Sure, it can be fun and beneficial to catch up with old friends and show faraway relatives what you’re up to, but- hours spent playing Farmville and stalking exes and obsessively checking updates? You can’t say that’s beneficial, in any way. I think it’d be great, and a very interesting social experiment, if Mark Zuckerberg shut Facebook down for a week, just a week, forcing us all to log off. Could you survive? I know I could.
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