It has never been easier to stay in touch with people from the other side of the globe or to read new information as soon as it is out of someone’s head, which are aspects of today’s life making it richer. But simultaneously, people appear all too eager to share their entire existence with the world, every little insignificant thing, not minding the dirty laundry being out for everyone to see, leaving a minority, such as myself, to ask themselves: is this really necessary?
Despite its first, and last, positive side of helping people stay in touch with each other, Facebook has revealed itself to be one huge popularity contest, where it is not about staying in touch with friends anymore, but rather, it is about the number of people you are in connection with. The incessant notifications about other people’s actions, their perpetual commenting and putting up pictures, expecting comments in return, have made the Facebook environment an unlivable one, for the reasonable few.
Personally, I have only a Twitter account, and am more than satisfied with this personal, online 140 character journal, which allows the possibility of following interesting thoughts of worthy people, and even communicating with a celebrity. For people like myself, who value their time and efforts, this is more than enough, while leaving useless picture posting and meeting new people for the purpose of dating or simply having some fun, is left to those who prefer the purposeless, overused machinery of Facebook.
Furthermore, the users are not aware of the fact that Facebook is selling their personal information to advertizing companies, helping them boost sales. Proof of this is in the millions of dollars Facebook has agreed to pay to the plaintiffs. Thus, they claim that they are endeavoring to ensure their users privacy, asking for more and more information, which is actually contradictory, and fortifies the fact that they are using this information to make money off of unsuspecting Facebook users.
For these reasons and so much more, I believe that Facebook is not a good thing. People were able to stay in touch with each other before, without the aid of technology, why should it be different now? Naturally, this is much easier today, but the fact of the matter is that not everything needs to be turned into a popularity contest and collecting acquaintances, which are then referred to as friends. As far as I am concerned, there are other ways of staying in touch, phone calls or emails, while online existence should be used for development of the self, not for degradation.
