There should be a warning when one signs up for a facebook account.
CAUTION: may cause severe addiction, loss of sleep, and obsession.
Facebook, I have learned, is difficult to resist or take in small doses, because once you start, it’s difficult to stop. If there were Facebook Rehab, I would most definitely be a candidate for admittance.
It all started in10th grade, after the Myspace had lost its allure. After much persuasion, I was allowed to create a Facebook page—little did I know that Facebook would become something I relied heavily on to be social, and would consume my time like nothing else. Facebook is myspace squared, as it remains somewhat classy while allowing you to stalk people.
I will neither take a positive or negative position towards Facebook, for I see both arguments to the social networking debate. Certainly online communication is changing the way we interact, redefining our relationships with others. Facebook is simplifying social interactions. Sure people use facebook to depersonalize and avoid the stickieness of a break up, yet at the same time facebook allows old childhood friends to reunite. It’s difficult to determine whether social networks are harmful or helpful. I’m pretty sure they’re both.
Communication is a crucial element to human relationships. Our relationships define us as individuals and as a species. Are we losing something in our lives, then, when we converse in texts, AIM, profile posts, video chats, and emails? I believe so. True communication involves facial expression, and body language on top of the verbal component. Facebook and other 21st century communication methods make socializing simple. Socializing, true socializing, definitely isn’t. Having a conversation with someone is requires effort—both people have to contribute and help their partner by asking questions, commenting, and avoiding the social awkwardness that can arise. Social interactions online eliminate those things, and when it comes to actual face-to-face conversations, some avid facebook users might struggle. Social networking is only 80% communication, not the real thing.
Despite this, I enjoy my lacking form of communication. Facebook is heroin in the form of a social networking site, and the masses are hooked—myself included.
I completely agree that social networks are both harmful and helpful. I also believe we lose a part of our natural relationships when we use technology to communicate. We require interpersonal relationships as humans. We crave body language and physical contact. That is what truly connects us, not the number of friends we have on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteA wise man once said that the only thing in life you can count on is Change. Everything changes and one should expect changes in how we communicate. If Facebook is the next generally accepted form of communication then I embrace it. That little square box in the living room has started all this and it took awhile for it to catch on. Let's just all remember that there's nothing better than gathering around a big table, sharing a great meal and talking with each other, not on Facebook, but rather Face to Face.
ReplyDelete"Frenemy" is a great way to put it, as Facebook serves as both a complement and a detriment in peoples' lives. Unfortunately, too many people have become sucked in and consumed by it, causing it to be more anti-social than actually social, defeating the purpose of "social networking."
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