Facebook's attraction
posted: Jan 25, 05:52 PM
So, what is the attraction to Facebook? Everyone has a Facebook joke…the one I hear regularly is “crack book”, but think of Twitter, there are a lot of people who are twittering away about nothing. I mean, do I care that “your Blackberry isn’t happy” or that “a bird flew by your window”? I don’t think so…but these are just a pared down version of Facebook’s status updates.
I suspect the attraction to Facebook is our ability to write on our friends’ walls; look at their pics, check out their friend lists and generally see what’s going on their lives when we don’t have the time, or sometimes the inclination, to do a face to face.
I know my favorite aspect to Facebook is Mindjolt. I find playing problem solving games relaxing. I particularly like Mahjong and Scrabble. I know, I know, don’t I have better things to do with my time. Yes, I do, but there is just something so relaxing about these games.
O.k., back to the attraction(s) of Facebook. Facebook can also be good for one’s self esteem. When one finds a friend request from a perfect stranger and we know it’s based on our profile pic. When we make a friend request because we think we’ve found an old friend from university and the guy replies with “I wish I was him, you’re pretty” or, the one I love, “you look great, you’ve still got it!” from an old boyfriend, who by the way, has definitely still got “it” himself!
I think basically Facebook serves to connect us in a world where life is so busy we often lose touch. Back in the day, people didn’t seem to move as much for work; when they did, they wrote letters to keep in touch, their handwriting giving it that personal touch. The average person didn’t seem to work as many hours of the day. Life seemed less full when I was a child and adolescent.
We’ve heard often enough about how technology was supposed to ease our lives, make them less stressful. Unfortunately, with cell phones, Blackberries, email we are constantly connected for work, just as much as for fun. Yes, my cell phone is handy, as is my email, but they are rather impersonal. I think this may be why we like Facebook. We have the opportunity to glimpse a tiny little peek into our friends’ lives. We see their homes, their kids, their vacations, their parties, their fun times, we keep up with their news…and it all seems so spontaneous. But is it?
I’m conscience of what I post as a status update. I don’t put anything on Facebook that I wouldn’t share with the whole world. ‘Cause at the end of the day, who knows who has access to our Facebook information. Statement, not question.
I say all of this and I have my privacy settings set pretty high. If you’re not my friend you don’t see anything more than my profile pic and my status update.
I like Facebook. It’s fun. I think that is all it’s supposed to be.
Gemini