Friend or Foe?

If you're like me, you check Facebook religiously.  While most won't admit to it, it's the first thing they do in the morning... even before brushing their teeth or turning on a light.  It's a pathetic addiction most of us have resorted to as a way to stay in touch with friends from home, people we met at a bar the previous night, or even someone we may never encounter in our day-to-day life.  While people claim to know all 1,329 of their friends, chances are they know, say, maybe 50.  We now have these social networks to keep up connected to every person we cross paths with in our life as a way to keep us in the know of not only our friends, but also complete strangers we begin to live vicariously through.

Courtesy of the "News Feed" we can monitor anyone's actions from who the hung out with whom over the weekend, who had the latest breakup, to who wrote on who's "wall" about the dramatic events of SMU's last football loss.  For those of us who desire to be on the track team, we can find the track star, look at their pictures from a recent meet, see their friends, interests, even quotes that inspire them, and shape our lives to mimic theirs.  If this isn't pathetic, then I don't know what it.

In terms of relationships, I personally have discovered Facebook ruins them.  Everyone can track the length, depth, and intensity of a relationship from the cute little gifts couples exchange, nauseating comments sent back and forth every other minute, and an extreme over-share of photographs depicting close-ups of kisses, skanky dance moves, and intimate moments that should not be shared outside a securely locked bedroom.  It's even worse when a breakup occurs - for the whole campus knows about it even before the other half of the relationship knows.  That little broken heart picture that appears next to either name signifies social destruction, and only leads to a string of apologies and supportive messages that often bring the breakee to tears.

Now while I have rambled on about how Facebook can be a life ruiner, let's switch gears to the positive part of Facebook.  First, it's a great way to kill time when say, you have a 10 page paper looming over your head.  I mean what better way to spend your free time than browsing through countless pictures of people you don't know, and writing flirtatious messages to that cute boy or girl you'll never get the courage to confront in reality.  I mean, Facebook is a great way to mask your true identity, and live through a secret, more confident persona you only think about in your dreams.

Finally, Facebook gives students the opportunity to brag about their extravagant social lives, accomplishments, and prove they have more friends than than Britney Spears has fans.  Showing off pictures of you and your family on a sandy white beach in beautiful Bermuda are fun, cute, and make your friends jealous, and it's a great way to catch that guy's attention while flaunting your new $200 bikini.

So next time you're logging on to Facebook for the 10th time within the next hour, think about everyone who sees your work, pictures, interests, relationship status, even current emotional state.  That sketchy guy down the hall from you could be living vicariously through your lifestyle.