Facebook ... an addiction?

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Feature by Ryan Potter

Last updated: Thu 23rd Oct 2008 at 11:07

Almost everyone has heard of it, most of you are on it and some of us like it a little too much...

Facebook is not a new phenomenon, sites like Bebo and MySpace have been around for years. But none have been as powerful and as well thought out as Facebook.

The photos application has, in particular, had a massive effect on people. Many groups of friends have a budding photographer within them, who will naturally put the photos of their mates online.

I myself look like a bit of a poser in the photos taken of me (check me out, add me!). What I am curious about is whether some people genuinely only dress up, go out and meet new people so that their Facebook page can be updated with new photos of them.

That may sound like an extreme suggestion but I was shocked to see how many times I said, “Take a photo of that,” or I pulled my friends in for another group shot. I was certainly bitterly disappointed when the camera ran out of battery at the recent Halloween party.

How many people repeat the mantra, ‘keys, wallet, phone’ when they leave the house? And add the camera for a night out?

My question is: do people take photos primarily to have keep-sakes of their night out or just to put up on Facebook? Is the lure of making our Facebook profile better controlling our actions without us even knowing it?

I don’t want to sound bitter because I love looking at great photos that remind me of good times.

It’s just obvious that it’s going too far in many cases. How many times will you only go out if it is arranged through Facebook? Or hear the phrase, “Facebook me with details” when you’re trying to tell them the details to their face?

Sometimes it’s hard to remember how we managed to survive without it.

I hate this, it really does scare me. So does people desperately messaging each other only on the public wall posts, not on the internal messaging service.

It is showing off that you know each other, like a primary school playground for adults. Why add people you never spoke to at school? Because the girl you fancy has a hundred more friends than you? Some people are just popular, get over it!

But let’s face it; a lot of us log on more than twice a day. Twice? Who am I kidding? Five times? Yeah probably! Facebook has become an obsession, but lets not forget it’s also a fantastic social tool too.

We all use phones a lot, but since when has that been obsessive? And the toilet too. If it gets in the way of productivity, then that is down to the individual.

One great thing about Facebook is the ‘how you know each other’ tick boxes; I never knew my friends could be so creative: I dated my best friend in 1834 and it got serious and now we don’t speak and we once travelled to the moon together!

I dated my best friend in 1834 and it got serious and now we don’t speak and we once travelled to the moon together!

I swear, however, the next invite to become a Super Poke- Zombie Werewolf that wants to know if you’re hot or not will kill me. Applications are a great invention but sometimes you have to draw the line. It shouldn’t take me ten minutes to find your Wall on your page.

It’s like digging for procrastination and before you even know what’s made the clock run away, you’ve struck gold.

Can it be possible to become actually addicted to it though? It could well be. These days it must be very hard to find someone, especially a student, who isn’t on Facebook. And why would you want to miss out?

Facebook can tell you where the best parties are or let you keep in touch with your best friend while he travels round America.

Everything else becomes of secondary importance to Facebook. You know, stuff like coursework and the various other important things that the Internet and computer have been designed to do. Just look in the library computer room – that room sees more wall posts being written than essays!

"Look in the library computer room – that room sees more wall posts being written than essays!"

One friend of mine has used Facebook to put his portfolio of professional photos online and to keep in touch with his friends in Brazil. Despite his 400 ‘friends’ on his profile, his page is nowhere near his main interest in life.

So is he using Facebook in a balanced and controlled way? yeah, but he is addicted to YouTube. There’s always one…

It’s not that I have an issue with Facebook, honestly. It just annoys me how dependent some people have become on it.

So please, only add people you really know, start taking pictures because you want to remember the night not decorate your page, start going out even if Facebook hasn’t told you to do so and stop annoying people like me who don’t want to join your zombie army, thank you very much!

From Pugwash November 2007