The Addiction of Facebook

About five years ago, I had never heard of Facebook, and I was intimidated by the new technology that was coming out on a seemingly daily basis, but learning to adapt and overcome the hurdles that life has put in front of me, I slowly integrated myself into the world of social media.  I started my Facebook account in 2007 according to my timeline and it has been slowly infiltrating my daily life since.  Now I have to check Facebook to see everything from the latest news, to what music to like and who I should be listening to for fashion tips.  Alright I have never really cared about fashion but you get my point. Facebook has gone from something I have never heard of to the single most dominant form of media in my life today, in about five years and I am not sure if that is good or not.  I do know that is has changed the way I look at the world.

At first I didn’t check it very much, but I found out that you could connect with other people you haven’t seen in a very long time, which was kind of great.  Each connection you made was like a walk through your past, remembering friendships, enemies, good times, bad times, everything out there you can imagine.  For me it was the older connections that really meant and still mean a lot to me, people that I knew when I was young.  There  was a shared experience of youth that provides a common bond between people.  Reconnecting in this way is the strength of this medium for people my age, I think.

So you wanna be friends?

This is the one of the oldest questions that I remember being in kindergarten and asking this question and there is something very basic and reassuring you get from the answer.  If the answer is no then you know that whomever it was is really a jerk and not someone you can rely on.  Or if the answer is yes, there is a warm feeling inside that someone out there likes me.  Or they really just want to creep around my page and see what I am up to.  I am an optimist so I will stick to the thought that they really like me. It says, “you are ok, you are alright! You have a friend.”  Even if you have a thousand friends, there is always room for one more friend or two, I mean can we really ever have too many friends?   I still love reconnecting with someone after many years and seeing what they look like now, and all of that type of stuff that everybody does but doesn’t admit to.  I think there is a desire in everyone to connect, to revisit those shared experiences.

Technology has Grown My Addiction

Since the cell phone companies have been so creative with their little smart phones, now there is no time of night or day that I can’t just flip on my phone to see what is happening

on Facebook.  Honestly I will check it three or four times an evening, just to make sure that I don’t miss anything.  It has also become my number one news source. There was an earthquake in Maine in October.  I didn’t feel any vibrations, I didn’t see any damage, I only knew it happened because Facebook told me so.  If there is an emergency, Facebook tells me.  Traffic trouble?  Facebook tells me.  Nuclear explosion, Facebook tells me.  Surprisingly, Facebook seems to be significantly faster than and just as accurate as the main stream media and more so if you count FoxNews as a major media source.

So here I am in my mid forties, unable to go longer than an hour without looking at Facebook on my phone because something might happen.  Thank you Mark Zuckerberg for complicating my life.

Facebook Messages Are Like Letters Used To Be, I think.

Messages on Facebook are awesome, I love to get them.  Somebody liked my link? Hell yes

they do!  Someone commented on my post? That’s what I am talking about!  When I get a message on Facebook it must be what it was like back when you got letters in the mail.  Someone took the time to think of you, write it down and send it to you.  That is awesome.  Except when someone you work with realizes that the only communication you will consistently check is Facebook and starts sending you messages there that are totally about work stuff.  What a rip-off! I think, “Wow, look at those messages! This is a great day.”  Then I click on it and see what it is……….it is like someone just cancelled the Super Bowl.  Even if it is really vital information that will make someone money and it should be good news, I can’t help but be significantly disappointed in getting work messages on Facebook.

Let’s Ask Facebook

So here it is 2012, I  can’t imagine what kind of technology is coming next, but no matter what it is, you can bet your ass that it will involve an easier way to interact with Facebook.  I am not sure if I am happy or sad about this, I will have to check Facebook and see what it tells me to feel.

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