Facebook: Friend or Foe (Or should I say "Unfriend")

Main Entry: facebook
Part of Speech: n
Definition: a school yearbook
Usage: informal
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Main Entry: facebook
Part of Speech: n
Definition: a publication for an organization, such as a school or business, which helps members identify each other; also, an online version of this, with profiles including a picture, name, birthdate, interests, etc. FACEBOOK is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc.
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Facebook. It used to just be a school yearbook. Now, it is the latest fad. A place where people can connect with their old high school friends, lost lovers, or perhaps find their Thursday night Cabana Charley’s waiter. It has become an obsession. And I have been caught up in it.

But you already know this, so what’s the big deal? Why do I care so much? The big deal is me and how this “social networking” site has impacted my life. For better or worse, you ask? That’s for you to decide…

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As you know, in the beginning (when I first joined) Facebook was only for college students. It was used as a way to network with other college students attending your college or with students from around the country. Since then it has been opened to anyone 13 years of age or older. But, of course, there is no lie detector and it is relatively easy to lie about your age. You just change the birth year…

Now, Facebook is a place to brag about the latest happenings in your life or to let people know that you want to kill yourself and hope that that one person will notice. Seriously. I would know, I have done both.

This site has become more than “social networking.” It has become a Burn Book. You know, like in the movie Mean Girls. It’s a place where any thing goes….the good, the bad, and the ugly. No one really censors themselves anymore. Even though their grandmothers, aunts, uncles, church members, parents, and future employers could be reading.

There is a feature where you can go back and read all your status updates from the past year…Wow. I looked at mine and was floored. No joke. I think the words that came out of my mouth were, “No wonder people thought I was crazy.” I had no censor. I thought that this was one way that I could get the attention and help I desperately needed. But did it really help? Nope. It just got me locked up for my own good. Not exactly what I was looking for.

I guess the whole purpose of this entry is to look at what your motivations are. Why do you use Facebook or other sites of the sort? Are you doing it to play Farmville? Send people Bumper Stickers? Stalk an ex? Find out if your crush is single? Check up on your children? Look at drunken pictures? Connect with an old high school friend? Find the latest hook-up or party? Inspire people? Bring people down? Ask for help? Ignore your own problems by focusing on some one else’s?

Whatever your reason, it doesn’t really matter. What matters is, if you are spending your free time on Facebook worrying about other people’s lives, than you probably aren’t spending enough time worrying about and LIVING your own.