Lab 12: "I've got 500 Friends! On facebook..."

From Delaney:

There are few people in this world above the age of 12 that can say that they are neither members of Facebook or Myspace. Social networking sites have become accepted parts of our lives, places where it is ok to publicly communicate with both your friend from India, and your neighbor next door. Websites that allow you to feel "loved", by showing to the world thousands of your personal photos, your hundreds of friends, and of course, your current cheerful status. Not to mention, a public display of all the current messages from your friends, proclaiming to the world that you are an active member of society.

Studies have shown that Facebook has increased "social capitol", by allowing people to maintain relationships with friends and create new ones. Two people that live in separate countries are able to communicate constantly and freely. In lots of ways, social networking sites could be seen as great things! However, when people chose to sit at their computers to chat with people three counties over, rather than spend time with their friends in the same room, we have a problem.

Although I am an avid user of Facebook in order to keep in touch with all my friends, I feel it does devalue the meaning of friendship. Upon reading the reports involved with this lab, I realized that out of my hundreds of friends, I really only know about 2/3s of them, and only about 3/4s of that group I could either call friends, or at least were people that I would either want or do speak to on a regular basis. Facebook has also become a way for me to "talk" with people, without actually having to look them in the eye, and gives me less reason to speak with people. Facebook is like diet Coke. It gives you that taste, without being the real thing. It makes you think you are part of this vast social network, when in reality, you are sitting at your computer. Alone. Facebook is great, but doesn't come close to personal time spent with friends. It isn't a replacement. It is simply a bandaid.