Ladies and Gentlemen (and all those who identify themselves as anything else), this is true; Facebook does consume your soul. It is not hidden that the per capita amount of hours spent on this social networking site is increasing with each passing day. The fact that this is effecting the grades of self-respecting college students like me notwithstanding, the Facebookmania has actually become a pandemic.
It is imperative to note why Facebook, of all the networking sites available on the www, has been felicitated with this honor. The website is user-friendly to most of those who have ever had the time to explore it. With ever-increasing applications that offer gazillions of features, the website has been able to attract new users from all over the globe. Facebook also provides, by far, the best security and privacy options available to its users. When compared to other social networking websites such as Orkut, Myspace or Hi5, Facebook is relatively secure. That is not to say that it is completely secure, but we will come back to it later.
The relative ease with which one can promote oneself has been one of the biggest assets of Facebook. The surge of groups, and pages, that support one cause or the other is a testament to this fact. I, myself, have used the website to promote my campaign for the Student Government at my University. With the implementation of the newest feature of turning "pages" into something resembling a profile, the appeal for such medium has gone up drastically.
Another facility that adds to Facebook's appeal, and I am sure many would agree, is its games. The surge in third-party games on the website, along with the number of users playing those games, has even surpassed websites dedicated solely to gaming. These simple, easy and entertaining games have become a huge part of a Facebook user's life.
The relative ease with which Facebook presents all of these features, wrapped into the neat package of a social networking site, gives it an edge over its competitors. Why go to any other site for stuff if one can find everything on Facebook, right? You have chatting, gaming, networking, gossip, and god knows what, available on that site just waiting to be used. One of my friends actually caught a thief using the website's unique search system, while another found his significant other through the dating service. Some of my friends use it as a blog, while others use it to further their political aspirations (like I have, too).
One has to wonder, though, that how beneficial is Facebook in terms of the time it consumes from our schedule. While its benefits can't be ignored - where else can you find all your friends, and their entire life, all in one place - one has to be cognizant of the fact that this can be detrimental to a lot of things you never thought of. The most obvious, and glaringly visible, is that it is addictive. How many times have you seen status messages that proclaim that the user needs to get off of Facebook and do something important that he/she needed to do? Quite often. Also, while a user has considerable freedom over what details non-friends, and even groups of friends, can see on their profile, their daily activity is laid bare on the "news feed" of their friends; and by that definition, friend of their friends, and so on. It makes me question the actual "privacy" that this website provides.
The most damaging effect, though, that Facebook has on its users is that it actually makes them un-social. A paradox, if I might say so, for a "social" networking site. I, personally, have had people talking to me on Facebook, to the extent of chatting even, and yet, when I meet them in person, they fail to recognize me. There is a difference in meeting people you have chatted with in anonymous chat-rooms and meeting people who are in your Facebook friend-list. It made me realize that while we have bridged gaps in the e-world, we have proportionately increased the gap in the real world.
I concede the fact that Facebook is a wonderful tool that makes our lives easier. However, like all other tools science has provided us with, it needs to be used with a great deal of caution as well as reason. After all, who likes to admit that they are addicted to something. With that said, let me get back to Facebook and post this piece in my notes.
Ciao
Bikram
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