Like I had mentioned earlier, the first word that comes to mind when I think of
Facebook is obsession. After seeing all the statistics, which I bet have increased
since January, I think that obsession is an appropriate word for most people’s
relationship with Facebook. If I were to diagnose myself, I would say that I am
only semi-obsessed. I generally check Facebook everyday but I don’t necessarily
take the time to answer all my messages or comment on my wall posts right at that
moment. I do however check it quite a bit in one day, especially when I’m bored.
I have it on my phone so it is really convenient. I used to be a
lot worse, meaning that I would feel incomplete when I didn’t check my profile
daily. But these days, if I am busy or on vacation it doesn’t bother me so
much. I also don’t take advantage of all the games and aps they have available.
For example, I have never played Farmville or things of that sort. I just take
advantage of creeping on people, wall posts, messaging, uploading photos and
videos, instant messaging, and sometimes the quizzes when I’m super bored and
want to waste an hour. Speaking of wasting an hour, I will admit that I am one
of those people that plan to do a quick check of Facebook but I end up surfing
on it for 4 hours at a time. Facebook is definitely one of my favorite pass
times.
A good majority of my friends are also Facebook obsessed,
especially one in particular, Brittany. She is constantly on Facebook! It seems
like there is rarely a time when she isn’t. She logs on all the time with her
phone and she gets on it a lot on her laptop. She is also one of those infamous
“likers” that likes everything in her path; whether it’s a status, picture, or
comment you can count on her to “like” it. I wouldn’t say that my other friends
are as obsessed but they are frequent users. They frequently make updates and
upload photos, which is nice. I like that aspect of Facebook that even when you
can’t always be with your friends you can log on to Facebook and see how they
are doing.
Another thing that I have noticed with Facebook is that I talk to people on their a
lot more than I do in real life. In fact, 57 percent of people talk to people more online
than they do in real life (“digitalbuzzblog”). One example in particular is there’s a boy
that talks to me all the time on Facebook through messaging, but when I came in contact
with him at a birthday party we barely spoke a word to each other. People seem a lot
more comfortable talking through an electronic device to each other because they have time to
think about what they are going to say and it’s not as nerve racking standing
face to face with that person, especially when people like one another. It’s
like they say in that movie, He’s Just Not That Into You, “Things have changed. People don’t meet
each other organically anymore. If I want to seem attractive to the opposite sex, I
wouldn’t go get a new haircut, I’d update my profile, it’s just the way it is”
(“listal”). I actually couldn’t agree with that statement more. I’m not going
to lie, all the guys I have been interested in are also Facebook users, so I
won’t deny that I’ve liked the same things they like or made sure my display
picture was a pretty attractive one when I wrote on their wall to make myself “more
appealing.” Overall, I think that Facebook is a good place to meet people and
keep in contact. It helps those chance encounters we have with people last, but
you should also focus on physical relationships more than virtual ones. Facebook
can just be the way to keep in contact with them. But maybe instead of checking
up on their profile to see how they are doing, ask them!
As for Facebook’s future, I think that the company is going to continue to prosper!
I don’t think it is going to die off even with bigger changes that they make. A lot of people
complained about the new format of Facebook but the number of users didn’t dramatically
decrease. Even if people complain, that doesn’t mean that that they are going to delete their
accounts. I think that there subtle improvements and changes will keep bringing
people in and keep the already tight knit fans reeled in. According to Facebook’s
history and statistics the future of Facebook is going to continue to grow each
year. They do say that “all good things must come to an end” but I think that
this good thing will be sticking around for quite some time!
The following video combines a brief history of Facebook with a few ideas to leave you with!
(The Future of…)
Works Cited
“Facebook Statistics, Stats & Facts For 2011.” digitalbuzzblog. Digital Buzz
Blog, 18 Jan 2011. Web. 12 Dec 2011.
http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/facebook-statistics-stats-facts-2011/.
“Facebook Users Outraged Over New Changes.” foxnews. Associated
Press, 22 Sep 2011. Web. 12 Dec 2011.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/09/22/facebook-users-outraged-over-new-changes/.
“Memorable Movie Quotes .” Listal . listal.com, 08 Nov 2008. Web.
12 Dec 2011.
http://www.listal.com/list/memorable-quotes-danie.
The Future of Facebook: A FHS-TV Feature Story. YouTube , 2010. Web. 12 Dec 2011.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c4mtF7qQ5c.
The World is Obsessed with Facebook. YouTube, 2011. Web. 12 Dec 2011.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJXOavGwAW8&feature=player_embedded#!>
“Timeline .” Facebook. Facebook , Jan 2011. Web. 12Dec 2011.
http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?timeline.
Yadav, Sid . “Facebook- The Complete Biography .” mashable . Mashable Inc. , 25 Aug 2006 . Web. 12 Dec 2011.
http://mashable.com/2006/08/25/facebook-profile/.