I’m a fairly moderate Facebook user, LOL jk I’m actually addicted

I actually don’t know what’s so great about Facebook. But that doesn’t stop me spending hours on it.

Even after writing that first sentence, I rushed back to the site to get the link to a friend’s blog to see if he’d updated it. He hadn’t.

I refused to join Facebook until I’d finished my A-levels- others had been on it for ages but I’d heard stories about people spending too much time on Facebook then failing their degree or getting sacked or getting ill. Nevertheless, I was afraid of losing contact with people. But it must be said that I spent most of my time playing a game that was – on retrospect- completely pointless (it involved unravelling palindromes, and me and a friend got very competitive).

Now, I find myself ‘checking’ Facebook several times a day, a reflex as soon as I connect to the internet. It’s normally to discover something incredibly mundane; Sarah Jones has ‘liked’ yet another ridiculous group  (‘Don’t mess with ma honeyz, they are my life, best friends forevaaa♥♥♥’ or ‘I don’t get need to get a life, LOL jk I ‘like’ at least ten of these groups each day’).

Facebook has cleverly positioned itself in the psyche of its users. It has become a veritable extension of their social lives, so much so that they must log on every day, but I believe it goes much deeper than simply seeing what friends are up to, or laughing at the hilarious photo from last Friday night.

In fact, I think it is fair to say that Facebook (for some, at least) has become an extension of their very selves- the status updates the user leaves, the photos they upload, all the information they provide- is there to define them, and each new piece of data represents a development of their character in the Facebook narrative. But it is one where the perception of their personality is heavily controlled by the user himself. For example, how should he balance the amount of photos of him and his friends at parties, with ones of him and his grandparents on holiday? More of one than the other is sure to give out a certain message about his personality, and this must be controlled to ensure maximum respect among his peers.

Incidentally, I happen to have very little trust in Facebook’s reputation with regards to privacy, so choose not to upload any photos at all, and promptly ‘detag’ myself in those of friends (there’s the explanation for any of my friends who were wondering why!) In doing so, I can’t help feeling that my ‘personality’ is somehow incomplete- there are no photos of me having a great time with friends, therefore to others, my life must seem incredibly uneventful, or at the very least I seem like someone who keeps their life unusually private. So, I try to make up for it with witty comments, like joining the ‘Bring Richard Whitely back to Countdown’ group, and putting ‘Unexpected item in the bagging area’ in my Favourite Quotations- just so people don’t think I’m totally boring.

Perhaps it’s just me, and I’m insecure or something. But tell me this, have you ever compared the amount of ‘Friends’ you have with someone close to you?

According to last month’s TIME magazine, 1 in 4 internet users now have an account which they visit regularly and as long as Facebook can maintain this emotional attachment with its users, it will continue to make a fortune- after all, more visits means more advertising revenue. In 2008, Facebook’s total revenue was estimated at $300,000,000. But is it right to make money out of people’s lives in this way?

You decide, then message me. I’m going to bed

Advertisement