Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Peoples dependency on Facebook
After a long day at work, sometimes coming home getting on Facebook to check the latest updates sounds very appealing. I use Facebook as a stress reliever sometimes. But when people are on facebook for more than 5 hours of the day, there has to be a problem. Peoples dependency of Facebook increase every day, and I honestly do not see that number decreasing any time soon. What if Facebook was never invented? What if social media as we know it today just vanished? Would people go crazy? People are so used to Facebook always being there, but what they have to realize is sites like that could get shut down with the snap of a finger. I'm not saying that Facebook will get shut down, but I am trying to stress to people not to be so dependent on Facebook. It's a social media site made for communicating to people. It's not meant to stress over. So people, keep your cool. And don't stay on Facebook for more than 5 hours. You'll get brainwashed. =)
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This is a serious issue that is something that everyone needs to think about more often. For example I was reading from a website called FML and on there someone had a post that said that because they gave up facebook for lent they lost all their friends and went into a spiraling depression. When you get to that point that is way to obssesive.
ReplyDeleteHi, my name is Corrine and I am a junior at the University of Rhode Island. I am currently enrolled in a public writing course and I agree completely with your post.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a fantastic post. I have a facebook, but I actually do not like it that much. It is a waste of time and in my opinion, not very professional for professors and managers to be contacting their students or employees through. If I could I would delete my facebook account in a heart beat. The only problem is, yes people are so dependent on it that they use it for a basis for organizations and groups to communicate through it. If facebook was deleted today, millions of people would be out of a simple means of communication between others in foreign countries, group members, and long lost family members. Although this seems like a sad thought, I feel many people would benefit from facebook shutting down. If facebook was shut down, that means people would communicate in person, make meetings to get together and talk rather than facebook chat. I feel this would be a healthy change mentally, and socially for a lot of people.
Corrinne has a good point, David. I'm really curious how far you want to push this. Most universities have discussion boards and everything like that, so they don't ned to use Facebook for organizations and so forth, they do it because it is convenient. What if you started wiht a smaller aargument that universities should keep organizations from creating facebook pages. Starting with such a focues point could help you as you develop your argument and move forward.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree, Facebook is a big waste of time. I enjoy facebook for the times when I want to tell a mass majority of my friends and family something at one time. It saves the time of having to call each individual person. I do find that some are very dependent on it. Some of the games can be addicting as well. My mother started playing Farmville on Facebook about a year ago. She came to find that she wasn't getting the gifts she needed from the neighbors she had on her farm. When this became a problem for her, she made my 12 year old (i believe he was 10 or 11 at the time) brother and my step-dad, who doesn't know how to turn on the computer, facebooks. She still plays on all three farms today. I keep joking with her that she needs to go to Farmville anonymous meetings, but now I think it is a little out of hand. Yes, these games help develop responsibility, but there are other more constructive ways of doing so.
ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteThis topic immediately caught my attention--and I can see that it did the same for a lot of other people, as well. I deleted my Facebook about a month ago. Actually, I didn't technically delete it, but I deactivated it. It was truly ruining the relationships in my life. I was dating someone who, I felt, acted like a different person through his Facebook statuses and posts to others' walls. It was a scary thought. Facebook allows me to see the "other sides" of people, even if they are not necessarily good. I have to say, though, that I have NEVER been happier knowing that I did not let Facebook control my life and dominate my conversations.
Laura is right, David S. It strikes me that a use and a danger of the Fb platform is that it can be used as a site for experimentation. I'm curious to know how many Fb inspired/connected crimes there have been since it really took off. This is an element worth looking into, both for the transformative psychology it creates online and how that may carry over into the real world.
ReplyDeleteIt can be argued that Facebook and other social networking sites are addicting, but almost everything in the world can be addicting. It's just a craze right now, one that takes up a large amount of time for many people. If Facebook was not invented, i'm sure there would just be some other online craze that everyone would be doing. Maybe blogging? Or still MySpace. I mean, MySpace was just as big before Facebook was around. And if it were taken away or banned from the internet, people would definitely find something else to occupy their time on the internet, especially since the internet is so popular right now.
ReplyDeleteThis past weekend the weather was amazing! When I got on my phone and out of curiosity wanted to see just how many of my friends were on Facebook chat, I was amazed. So many people were on Facebook and not outside enjoying the 82 degree weather! I was outside all day Sunday! The only time I was inside was to go to the bathroom, get a drink, or to prepare the burgers! I wasn't going to waste the most beautiful day we have had in months sitting in front of a computer or a television! I can't believe how Facebook has corrupted our generation so horribly that a nice sunny day can't even get them off the computer.
ReplyDeleteI'm from EACC supa. I'm on Facebook most of the time as well, so this topic interests me. The issue with Facebook is serious. What most people do not take into understanding is that it is only a social networking site, like you mentioned. I also like your ideas about Facebook shutting down. Many people do not realize it could shut down any minute. Why do you think people are so dependent on Facebook? Do you think it is because people are slacking off from there work? Is Facebook the cause of this?
ReplyDelete