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!

"Not now dear, I'm Facebooking."

It has its own vocabulary (liking, friending, blocking...), complete with acronyms (FB, ty, lol...to name a few;   ROTFLMAO:  I love that one.).  I feel like an insider using it.

(Image via http://www.facebook.com/)

I resisted using it.  I thought, what could I possibly have to say?  Finally, I decided to use it for professional reasons--a place employers could look at my quasi resume.  I set up my page, listed my education and work history on the info tab, and started looking around on the site.

I found a few people I knew and added them as "friends".

I found games.  OMG!  I found Mafia Wars!  I added several dozen strangers as friends (you can't advance in those games without lots of mates).  I started paying attention to the posts on "the Wall" (where all the messages from friends get posted).  I started responding to posted messages.  I started posting a few updates of my own.  I became more informed on and connected to the lives of my friends and family than I had been before.  Some of my family and friends live in the same small town as I do, yet we chatted more on Facebook than we had on the phone or in person.  I met "friends of friends" and added them as friends if we had something in common.

I learned about subjects, issues, and resources I hadn't known about before as I paid attention to the things my "friends" posted, liked, reposted (you can "share" another person's post by posting it in your message stream)... I found "pages" (professional or organizational Facebook pages) on sites and subjects that interested me personally and professionally.  I joined national and international dialogues on issues and topics I felt important.  I posted questions for advice whenever I had something big to decide (if it wasn't too personal).

I realized I was addicted when I noticed I have to check my Facebook page first thing every morning, last thing every night, and several times in between.   I use checking Facebook as a reward for doing so much homework or writing so many words (or for writing for certain lengths of time)...Yes, Facebook is a vice.  Is it good or bad?  Maybe it's both.  Sometimes I Facebook when I really need to be doing something else.  Then it's a bad vice.

Recently a Facebook "friend" of mine (someone I have never met face-to-face) made the following post:  "How do you tell your 9-year old that her mother isn't coming home from the hospital?" He was telling us his wife had finally died.  I and several others expressed our condolences and support.  What struck me was his need to share with us, with his Facebook community--to connect with people he had only connected with online.  Clearly, social networking allows for an emotional connection that transcends the boundaries of face-to-face relationships.  If using Facebook this way is a vice, it is a good vice.

Now, if you'll excuse me... I need to go check my Facebook page.