In numerous ways,
Facebook and other social media has paved the way for a lot of people to find
each other. It has allowed them to reconnect with friends and family. Other social
media endeavors such as LinkedIn has also allowed people to put together
numerous good contacts that served them well in the world of business.
For every good
thing that Facebook has brought us, there have been numerous bad things the
social media platform has delivered. Granted it is not just Facebook that is
the cause of many of these problems, but given that right now Facebook is
perhaps the most prominent social media network, it is the face that can be put
on many problems that is across the Internet and spilling into our personal
lives. Note that almost 12 percent of the world’s population of plus 7 billion
are using the social media juggernaut.
Facebook is
Serious Business Apparently.
When Facebook
started up, I doubt many could imagine what it would grow to. I for one was
really annoyed by the complete saturation the social application made into
every nook and cranny of our lives. At
the beginning it was a nice place to socialize online, to really hang out with
friends, keep in touch despite being in separate states. Then after a while,
Facebook started gaining steam and became mainstream. Some of largest
corporations around the world realized the power of social media and thus they
hopped right on Facebook. Even governments jump in the social vat. It was not
just a geek thing to do any more, rather Facebook now comes across as a rather
serious and essential thing to the general population. If you were a company that was not on
Facebook, you were missing out on a large amount of profits. If you were the
average person on the street, you were simply not with it. Facebook was the
most happening place. I recently witnessed a professional gentleman (not on Facebook)
tactfully taunted for his lack of interest in the application.” Fascinating!”The problem is when something becomes popular, it also attracts the worst of people. At another time the Internet was a far more innocent place. Granted, you’re always going to have people who are going to stir up trouble. At another time, the Internet was associated with a geek stereotype so to speak. I was most certainly in the crowd. Only the social outcasts like myself were on it, it was not the hip thing to be on… in the late 80’s!
These days the Internet rules the world and if you’re not on the Internet, you are pretty much disconnected with what’s current in the world today. And with the popularity comes the pain of more scam artists, more disruptive people trying to cause havoc with computer viruses, and just a lot of trolling in general.
That brings us back to Facebook. It became a huge haven for anyone, and I mean EVERYONE!. It brought out all sorts of characters. Lots of trolling, bullying, and also another platform for a fair share of scams has colored the experience of Facebook for many. This is one of the reasons why some decent people have left the social media empire. While some remain, the dregs of society have been left.
Facebook is Taken Way too Seriously.
Also another point is that people take what happens on Facebook a bit too
seriously. It is something that affects real
life a little too
much. There have been broken friendships, broken families, and broken marriages
because of Facebook. All it takes is one comment or people stirring the pot to
really set off a storm.
It is rather sad when real life is disrupted due to social networking insanity on Facebook and other such websites. Of course one must wonder if this would happen if said people are spending a bit too much time on Facebook. That point however is beside the point.
Facebook is
for fun, it should not dictate your life.
I think that people really can spend as much time as they want at a place, until the point where it causes the lines between real life and their life on the Internet to be blurred. To the point where it drastically affects their lives in the real world, it is going to become a problem at that point. That time could be longer for some of us and much shorter for others. It does depend on the responsibilities you have.
In reality, Facebook should not be something that interferes too greatly with your responsibilities. Whether those responsibilities are your children, marriage, friends, family, work, or school, there is a point where it can go too far with interfering with all of those. To the point where it drastically affects said responsibilities.
Facebook can be great but if you take it a bit too seriously, it can cause some damage to your real life. There are countless examples of this fact, just ask around.
Take care and
surf safely. Thanks for reading!
© 2012 Palmer Pinckney II 