At the Galleria this weekend, my friend and I overheard a group of high school girls giggling. “That better be put up on Facebook tonight!” one of them laughed. I laughed also, because I have definitely heard that phrase many times. Any time something happens – a funny quote, a cute picture, an interesting event – everyone rushes to post it on Facebook. I watch my free time and would-be homework time devoured by “just two minutes” on Facebook. For many of us, our world is being pervaded and overtaken by Facebook.
There are a few that have somehow avoided this time-consuming phenomenon and withheld from creating an account. Frankly, I am in awe. I don’t even know a college before Facebook; and I even have trouble remembering a high school before pokes, tagged photos and wall posts. I know I personally check my Facebook account multiple times when I am online, and fail to get any homework done while my Ethernet cord is plugged into my computer. This Internet-connectedness is not new or original, yet Facebook has arguably the most popularity in our age group. I had a Myspace account before Facebook, but it never permeated my life to any degree similar to Facebook. Something about the “only adolescents” idea drew me, and many others, into the Facebook abyss. The apparent privacy and the ease of communication with my friends from all over kept me coming back. And now I am stuck.
Now, whenever one of my friends takes a picture, everyone asks to be tagged. Sometimes, we even bring cameras to events for the sole purpose of posting the pictures later on Facebook. During a dance party, we posed for a picture just to be able to upload later. It has gotten to the point where some people aren’t actually having fun because it’s a good time; some people are simply doing crazy things to get it posted later on Facebook. Everyone wants to look “cool” and Facebook has made the internet an easy popularity contest- who has the most tagged pictures, the most posts, the most friends. In college, with over a thousand people in each class, getting to know a good deal of the school is practically impossible. Facebook is the solution to the high school cafeteria; nearly everyone is there watching, and can see who hangs with the cool crowd and who sits at the loser table.
Instead of getting to know someone personally, it is easier to search on Facebook and discover her favorite movie or his activities. If the only thing Gary knows is that Mary-Sue-across-the-hall has 362 friends and likes The Beatles, he might feel like he actually knows her. But in actuality, Mary Sue has no idea who Gary is because Gary is just another anonymous person living through Facebook instead of the real world.
Instead of going down the hall and having a conversation, some people feel like it is more simple to friend someone else on Facebook. Now, this definitely isn’t the case with everyone, but it can be argued that Facebook is redefining interactions and our world, in general. The ways we meet people and hang out with our friends, and especially the ways we spend our free time, are markedly dominated by Facebook.
So, even as I write this, I keep switching to check my account. No, I haven’t gotten any updates. I really don’t remember what deadlines were like before Facebook, but I am pretty sure they were never this difficult. All the same, I don’t plan on deleting my Facebook account anytime soon!
Caitlin is a freshman in Arts & Sciences. She can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].