Hello… My name is Mara and I’m addicted to Facebook.

sickfacebook.com

I created my facebook account almost five years ago and I never looked back. I am a self-admitted facebook addict! More than 500 million people have a facebook and I am one of the 175 million people that check their page daily. (TechCrunch.com) I can’t go an entire day without checking my profile and my feed. And why not be addicted? I am able to connect with hundreds of people at the click of a button, post a funny video, or take care of my virtual pet all in one place.

I had never questioned my devotion to the Holy Grail of social connections until just a few weeks ago when I saw the movie “The Social Network.” It is a really good movie if you haven’t seen it but once I knew the struggle that went into making this worldwide phenomenon I started thinking about how different the world would have been if facebook had never been made.

1. I defiantly wouldn’t spend as much time on the computer. I would have to read a book, do homework, or interact with people face to face! (gasp!)
2. My contact list on my phone would be overflowing. We would need to talk or text in order to contact people instead of just facebooking them.
3. None of our virtual worlds would exist! No petville, yoville, farmville, or other community games.
4. No one would remember anyone’s birthday. I need that notification or I feel horrible for forgetting.
5. Facebook creeping wouldn’t exist. We would actually have to ask people what we wanted to know about them instead of just creeping on their profile!
The list could go on and on.



I know that I’m focusing on facebook but my argument can be applied to other social networking sites as well. Yes myspace came before facebook (facebook is better) but myspace has become the place to find out info on the latest music. Twitter lets you post anything from “Going to Wal-mart to buy stuff! Hit me up later” to “To be, or not to be--that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them. To die, to sleep-- No more.” As well as granting or taking away fame. And who can leave out search engines! Yahoo and Google save my life when I’m writing a paper and am too lazy to spend time trying to find research. Within seconds you have 500,000 possible sources!



I am an addict and I need my fix! If that means spending 7-8 hours a day with my page open in front of so be it!!! I’d much rather live in a world where I was addicted to facebook then a world where it didn’t exist. Yes, it distracts us from work we need to get done. Yes there are pointless and mindless games we can’t stop playing. Yes we can creep or be creeped on. But I wouldn’t have it any other way!