The Big Bad Facebook

My morning routine has not changed in two years. I wake up, take a shower, get ready for my day, and plop down behind my desk. I launch Firefox, 2 tabs. One is the weather of White Plains for that day (There is nothing worse than shivering on your way to Brownson!), and the other is Facebook.

More than 300 million users, and more than 6 billion minutes are spent on the site each day (http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics). How did this networking website become such a necessity in the adolescent’s life? Or should I say… Every individual’s life? As a matter of fact, my entire family (mother, father, grandparents! aunt, cousins, brother, sister…) is signed up on Facebook.

When you meet someone that you would like to see again, you do not even ask for a phone number anymore. It’s a simple: “Hey what’s your last name, so I can add you on Facebook?”. It is a little worrying that it is ASSUMED that the person has Facebook, and not bothering to ask.

I find myself procrastinating. Just flipping through photos, profiles, videos… things I have seen numerous times before. Of course the website is incredible… being able to communicate with long lost friends, being capable of sharing your information with pretty much the entire world… this is something that our parents never had when they were young. But when you really look at yourself… you scan other people’s profiles, people you probably do not even talk to, even less say hello to… and yet they are your “friends” ? This is not only a hypocritical attitude, but makes us dependent on other people’s lives for entertainment. We stop focusing on our “real” lives, and live through Facebook.

Worrying? Yes indeed.