Facebook is an addiction. It takes its victims by the millions, yet many fail to acknowledge its impact on our society. According to Facebook's statistics page, he average person spends over 700 billion minutes on Facebook per month and over 50% of Facebook users log in multiple times a day. Now that Facebook has made it possible to access through your mobile device, people are spending twice as much time on Facebook than users who don't access it through a mobile device (Facebook Statistics).
Through my own experience with Facebook, I have witnessed the large amount of drama that occurs on the site. On many occasions, I have seen my own friends have heated, public “Facebook wars”. They don't even take into consideration just how many people are viewing it, nor do I think they care. That's the point; get as much attention as possible, while getting people to take your side as well. I also have seen drama get stirred up during debates on discussion forums when people just take it to the next level and get way too personal. I too have been a part of such a debate at one point, and had a person saying horrible things about my family because they didn't agree with my opinion. It doesn’t matter how much you may try to avoid the drama, you always end up being sucked into it one way or another.
Have you ever really sat down and counted the hours that you spend on Facebook in a day, a week, or a even a month? Facebook is so incredibly time consuming because even if you intend to only check you messages "really quick," somehow you end up playing on Facebook for hours at a time. I still have yet to figure out what it is that makes Facebook so intriguing that it can keep my attention for that long. Since checking statuses, commenting on posts, and playing games on Facebook is so consuming, it can prevent you from getting your daily activities completed, can cause your grades to fall by taking up your study time, and can even begin to destroy personal relationships. What happened to the good old days when we would actually "go visit" our friends and family? When people spend so many hours on an internet website instead of spending quality time with their friends and loved ones, we may even lose the ability to connect with someone in person.
What makes Facebook so dangerous is the fact that there is absolutely no privacy. Lately, employers have been known to start checking out their employees' Facebook pages. If you post something incriminating such as drinking, drug use, and being overly exposed in pictures, your employer may take that as a violation of their code of conduct and terminate your employment. Or it may even bar you from being hired in the first place. Sometimes even the way you talk on Facebook can prevent you from obtaining employment. Facebook is also a playground for sexual predators. Since there is no verification process when making a Facebook account, anyone can impersonate anyone they want. It is so easy to just copy pictures from Google and then post them as your own. You could really be conversing with a sexual predator, while you're thinking that you are talking to that really cute guy that just sent you a friend request. Also, since there is no protection on Facebook, your pictures and personal information can actually be stolen. If you don't have your privacy set to the highest setting, which most don't, then people can steal your pictures for whatever they want as well as use your personal information. Isn't it scary to know that anyone out there can find out anything about you through your Facebook page?
Now I realize that Facebook has about 2.5 million websites that they have integrated with, and it is a big money maker for those involved, however, we need to look at the bigger picture. Facebook can also be very dangerous to children who are on it because of sexual predators, people who share personal information, and even those who spend hours at a time "Facebooking” instead of handling daily responsibilities. Facebook can be a great way for people to stay in touch with loved ones across the country, but when it is abused we can even lose personal contact with those who live in our own city. People who use Facebook can lose friendships through the confrontations and rumors that are spread on Facebook, and people who use Facebook can also suffer the consequences from their employers. Maybe if we could limit our daily use on Facebook, or even limit our networking we could slowly undo the lasting effects caused by the termoil that takes place throughout Facebook. Facebook has its good qualities, but I feel that its negative qualities strongly outweigh any good. Facebook is our addiction.
Resources:
Facebook Statistics: http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics
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