What value does Facebook have to us? What would we do without it? Could we survive? Is photo stalking, wall posting, status updating really neccessary?
While Facebook can perhaps distance us in our personal relationsihps, Facebook has also helped reconnect old family and friends with making connections that had been lost. There are stories posted by users on the Facebook website that recount reunited families and classmates. In many ways, Facebook is a device that really does allow for us to keep a broad network of connections. It helps us stay connected with an “outer world.” Whether or not one’s experiences are genuine and meaningful, well, that must depend from person to person.
But let’s return to whether or not humans as a race need Facebook to survive. It might be a new and useful way of communication, but, what are we really spending all our time on Facebook doing? Playing games, uploading pictures, “likeing” and commenting on wall posts, looking at strangers’ profiles. How much of our time on Facebook is actually done doing something productive? It seems that without Facebook, we might be able to stick to emailing or instant messaging devices to keep in touch. The extraneous profile information, photos, status updates are simply a way to feed our desire to compare ourselves to each other, to find a social standing. Our playing of games on Facebook feeds to our boredom, and keeps us at the computer for longer hours instead of going out to excersize.
Yet whether or not Facebook is necessary seems to no longer be the question. Perhaps what we should be asking ourselves is why do we want such a website in our lives that takes up so much of our time and mental energies. Facebook is a community of millions of people. In many ways, by having a profile, you are taking part of a large community. You are establishing yourself in your world, and making your presence known. Facebook becomes a way to belong to society. Does Facebook come down to wanting to be a part of a community and to be accepted?
Facebook is great because it integrates everything into one interface. Although gmail can do it, and other social networking sites can also do it, Facebook is "sexyy" and popular!
ReplyDelete