#2 Open Topic

For this open topic, I want to talk about facebook. Facebook is a world-wide website that allows you to keep in contact with old and current friends. Almost every college student has one. It is a way of communication and even keep in touch. Every event and relationship statuses, pictures everything is on facebook. It is in a way a social norm to have a facebook. Many students get distracted from their work by being on facbeook. People stalk their friends by reading their wall posts, looking at pictures, and looking at their personal information.
I then realized how much facebook is addicting when I myself, would spend hours on facebook just checking and commenting on pictures. I decided to cut down on my facebook access. I recently read an article on facebook addicts. This mother was so addicted to facebook. It isn’t a real medical diagnosis but it is very common that people cross the line from social networking to social dysfunction. There is actually a check list to see if you’re a facebook addict. It includes, lacking sleep because of facebook, spend more than an hour a day on facebook, thought of getting off facebook makes you nervous. It is surprising that people get anxiety or stress from being off facebook. This woman on her blog decided to give up going on facebook for lent. She wanted to know what she would actually miss about facebook and what she really did value. I decided to only be on facebook for 10 minutes a day. Even this has proven difficult. Especially when seeing funny pictures I want to comment on or even catching up with an old friend on facebook chat. But through the experience, I learned to actually call people to catch up instead of virtually contacting them. Its actually more intimate and better way of catching up with people. So far, ive learned that facebook is good to keep updated with people but to really keep a friendship going, is actually calling them up. I don't think most people realize the importance of calling and hanging out to keep a friendship and not just saying a friendly message with no genuine concern to see how they are doing.