Facebook and It’s True Colors



Facebook Corruption

Around 52 million people around the world go online in search for entertainment every day, Facebook being one site. (Wellman) Are you part of the millions that pursue a wide range of activities via the internet? Face it, the internet is everywhere, you can’t really get away from it. In February of 2004 a sophomore at Harvard University, Mark Zuckerberg, now age 26, created the Facebook site from his dorm room. (Zuckerberg) Now today, according to statistics from Facebook statistics, people spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook. (Zuckerberg) With over 500 million active users, being people who have returned to the site within the last 30 days, that many minutes really adds up. (Zuckerberg) A few reasons Facebook is the most trafficked personal web page (PHP) is one, because it has over 900 million objects such as events, groups, and interest pages that keep us intrigued and entertained. (Zuckerberg) Secondly, Facebook has more than 70 translations available making it useable for anyone around the world. (Zuckerberg) And lastly, it has been estimated that more than 150 million active users view Facebook on their mobile device which entails them to spend twice as much time on Facebook compared to non mobile device users. (Zuckerberg) So, is Facebook one of the best websites created or is it corrupting us and secretly taking over our lives?

“Dystopians argue that in an information society where work, leisure, and social ties are maintained online, people could completely reject the need for social relationships based on physical location”, which is highly recognized through Facebook. (Wellman) Instead of going out into society, people spend all their time on Facebook which then replaces their actual human interactions. According to a panel survey of over

2000 internet users, done by Norman Nie and Lutz Erbring, five percent of people spend less time at social events, nine percent spend less time with friends and family and seventeen percent drop all phone contact. (Castells) No, these numbers are not substantially high but Facebook is still a bit new and just imagine what could happen as it begins to progress.

Have you ever heard the famous question, “is it Facebook official?” Some people don’t consider themselves actually dating unless it’s posted on Facebook so the whole world can know. Not only do they begin their relationships there, Facebook is also a new way to break up with someone which is becoming more popular over the internet. (Gershon) Along with this, online dating not only through Facebook but over the internet in general is constantly increasing. So how does the ‘trust’ thing really work through a computer?

Trust online, whether it was dealing with relationships and people or what was being said about society, was brought up immensely in the book, Up For Grabs: the Future of the Internet. (Rainie) Facebook is one of the greatest risks in the trust area. How can you honestly trust what people put about themselves? You could think you are talking to a hot blonde teenager when really you’re talking to a fifty year old man that’s a pedophile. Hey, it’s happened. With more than 700,000 registered sex offenders in the United States alone, there have been 8,487 found on Facebook thus far. (Schonfeld) Internet permits us to hide behind a screen rather than interact face to face with other humans. I mean lets face it; you can be whoever you want to be online. You can create multiple Facebook pages, all being different people. All you really need to create an

account is an e-mail address and we all know how easy that is. With being so user friendly, Facebook is continuously growing.

So what do people actually use Facebook for? Well what do we primarily use the internet for? To find information! The home page of Facebook is filled with ads and links to other pages. Take the overwhelming success of the Obama campaign as a prime example. Through sophisticated networking skills and being more text savvy with the younger generation, it is believed that is how Obama received more supporters and votes. (Dalsgaard) According to Steffen Dalsgaard, “Here it is not votes that strengthen the politician, but relationships, and it is the revelation of their quantity rather than their quality which counts.” (Dalsgaard) But we won’t go into politics; we all know how that turns out. Facebook is also seen as an entertainment high. People use the internet in general, Facebook more specifically, to get through the day. Take an average day in a University, what is usually up on people’s computer screen? That’s right Facebook, yes I am guilty of this too but it really is a tool of distraction and is more interesting than what the professor is talking about. One of the only problems is that people become so dependent on it, that they think one day without it they miss too much, when quite honestly you are missing more in society’s reality.

However, there is another side of the story. Studies have shown that users of Facebook improve their family connections and better their friendships. (Wellman) The internet also reduces the space time and cost necessary to keep in touch over far distances. Therefore, making it easier to pursue and continue long distance relationships. People also tend to have more motives to engage in hobbies and seek new interests.

(Wellman) In a way it also helps boost people’s self esteem and self appearance. Because your Facebook page is all about you, you get to feel like you are the center of attention and people are only paying attention to you. Also, because of the extra objects such as games and what not, on the Facebook page, it could be a good source of entertainment. Shouldn’t there be more advantages and good things about something so addicting and controlling in people’s everyday lives?

Yes, Facebook is a great resource for some of the things mentioned above but if used incorrectly and too much, it could essentially corrupt your life. According to my personal experience and a self constructed survey among several individuals ranging from the age of 16 to 72, it is already being used for the wrong reasons. Within my survey I asked specifically chosen questions such as, “What is your main use for Facebook?”, “Do you ever find yourself going on Facebook because you are bored and have nothing else to do?”, and “How about the amount of hours spent on Facebook in one day or a week?” You yourself could answer these questions and you too like some of my friends might be surprised by some of your answers. Most people I asked, including myself, have had an account for about two years. Most say they use Facebook to keep in touch with family and friends which is common but then they also answer, “To see what people are up to” (People from my survey) Almost all even said they go on Facebook because they are bored. Hello People! Go outside and do something, or pick up a new hobbie! Now the big question, “How much time do you spend on Facebook?” This is where people were brought to reality and were in for a surprise. One person said over forty hours a week! On the other end I had someone say only ten minutes per month.

Within the people I asked there wasn’t an average because the answers were so different. But you can see how much time is wasted on not the internet, but just on Facebook. Now add on checking e-mail, online banking, homework, etc. Wow! Talk about an unnecessary time waster!

Okay so a little recap, Facebook is a good way to stay in touch with family and friends far away but that is all it should be used for. Instead it is used for entertainment or a cure for boredom. It is also replacing our face-to-face communications and interactions. Without being brought forth, people ignore the reality of it and don’t realize this addicting site takes up way more of our life than we suspect.

Work Cited:

1. Wellman, Barry. Haythornthwaite, Caroline. The Internet in Everyday Life. United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishers Limited. 2002

2. Castells, Manuel. The Network Society: A Cross-cultural Perspective. Great Britain: Edward Elgak Publishing Limited. 2004

3. Rainie, Lee. Anderson, Janna Q. Fox, Susannah. Up For Grabs: The Future of the Internet. New York: Cambria Press, 2005

4. Dalsgaard, Steffen. "Facework on Facebook". Anthropology Today. July 26, 2010 .

5. Gershon, Ilana. “Email my Heart”. Anthropology Today. August 1, 2010



6. Zuckerberg, Mark. “Facebook Press Room”. Facebook. August 1, 2010

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7. Roeder, Linda. “Facebook Privacy Settings to keep teens safe”. : Personal Web Pages. August 1, 2010



8. Schonfeld, Erick. “Thousands of MySpace Sex Offender Refugees Found on Facebook”. TechCrunch. August 2, 2010



9. Thanks to everyone who participated in my survey:

Kris Archambeau, Chad Girard, Matthew Goldsworthy, Jan Russell Volkman, Brittany Debeck, Michael Manteufel, Annie Archambeau, Pat Carlson, Dante Bott, Cedric Kennedy, Andrew Shaw, Amanda Carlson.

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