Addiction

I'm sure most people of this generation can understand my addiction to Facebook.  It's become a habit: turn on the computer, log on to Facebook.  I remember the time, way back in my senior year of high school, when I was wary of the social networking site.  I was hesitant, not sure how to respond to it.  I mean, what are you supposed to do with a "social networking" site?  It's not like Xanga (which will always have a soft spot in my heart; I had one for many years) where you write about things . . . It's a blog.  That's it's purpose.  So what exactly do you do with a social networking site?

Now, two years later, I can barely go a day without Facebook.  I log on periodically to check up on . . . I don't even know what.  Maybe to feel connected to the people I don't see every day or to see if anyone's sent me anything.  Perhaps I've gotten used to the stalkerish nature of the site.  I've also come to see its use as a resource and a place to share ideas with the people in my circle of friends, family, and acquaintances.  Events are slightly easier to plan while friends are scattered all over the East Coast if there's a place online for us to use.  We can make plans long before coming home for the summer.

The whole concept of being able to communicate with friends all over the world via the internet is awesome.  Unfortunately, I've found that the people I interact with the most on the internet are the people who I see regularly in real life already.  Most of the time, there are a bunch of people who are signed into Facebook, but no one I really want to talk to.  Then there are those people who you've met once but they invite you to everything.  It becomes more of a procrastination method: sign on, start a random conversation with someone you've met twice, stalk a friend's page because you haven't talked to them in a while . . .

Love them, hate them, social networking has come into existence and I doubt it's going anywhere anytime soon.  They're a great way to keep in touch with people you don't see every day (whether this happens regularly or not) and it's a way to discuss class assignments when you can't meet up with your group members in a class.  If you're having trouble getting contact with someone in other ways, you will probably be able to get a response on Facebook.