As an avid Facebook User, I've always wondered whether or not the time I spent on Facebook could have been put to better use. While I studied abroad in Ghana, internet connection was a hit or miss situation, so I was forced to immerse myself in the world around me. However, the same is not the case in most other developed countries, which leads me to question what influence sites such as Facebook and Twitter have on our social lives. Have these sites been helping us to communicate more with people, or rather have they been detaching us from the real world around us (or both)? People who would usually have to call and say "Happy Birthday" or stop by to say "hi", can now spend two seconds writing on a friend's wall and feel satisfied that they've taken care of this "obligation". In addition, many people have been using these social media sites to create their own fantasy world, where they can display themselves as they wish to be seen, while ignoring (and hiding) the reality of their lives. Of course, these sites are great for keeping in contact with friends, advertising events, and contacting people you haven't seen in years. But are these same sites also harmful to the social life that exists when your computer screen shuts down?
Hahah OH! Survey Says: Yes! But sometimes it's good to have a conversation where you have plenty of time to formulate your thoughts. Sometimes its helpful to have an outlet to friends 24/7 without actually calling them and waking up. As with many of the worlds desirable things, it requires determined self-monitoring. Great first post!! :P
ReplyDeleteThis is the world of now, of right this minute and that's what Facebook tweeter and the other social medias represent. A means of speaking to many without calling a assembly and gain quick response. The power of these medias though test to an extent during the presidential campaign in 2008, were sorely tested last year and this one in the middle east. Age old regimes felled by the power of the printed word. Proving the old adage that the pen (the print) is mightier then the sword (gun(s)).Facebook wrought fear in governments in and around the area became very afraid of Facebook thus...the people. I don't credit Facebook for making or creating change in that are. The people did that. I credit Facebook for creating the medium by which it could be done. The internet...a medium that cannot be completely controlled. It has and will continue to change the world
ReplyDeleteI did not mean to make it sound as though Facebook created the internet but only that the internet carrying mediums like Facebook will change the world.
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