Is Facebook Sleezy?

19 Jan

Facebook is meant to be for friends. Right?

It disturbs me how many people trawl through facebook and request 'friendships' with people they have never met or have met for 20 minutes in a bar (and are married or in a relationship). Is Facebook a platform for people to become sleeze bags and try and pick up women/men or is it a platform for friendship. Sure, some people don't have a life and spend every waking hour checking if someone has made a comment on their facebook pages in hope that it will make them feel better than they did the minute before.

According to Psychologytoday.com, so many people spend time on facebook because;
1. They are bored at work
2. They are unhappy with their lovelife
3. There are a narcissist (and/or voyeur)
4. They desire to 'get along' with people
5. Their motive is to 'get ahead'

I think facebook has a place and it is to keep in touch with friends and relatives and to touch base with that person who was your best friend in year 7, but a friend is not someone who you don't invite to your house for dinner or pick up the phone to. A friend is someone you really know, not someone that is a distant acquaintance.

In business there certainly is a place for facebook particularly for consumer based marketing where facebook is fantastic or even for events - but that is NOT on your personal facebook account. It is on a business facebook page that clearly communicates what the objective is for the use of this platform.

More than 100 million users access facebook through their cell phones and those who do, access it double the amount of times as someone who accesses it through a computer. There is a real addiction going on to facebook and without doubt there is and always will be social repercussions.

I personally prefer someone to pick up the phone and call me rather than facebook me a message and face-to-face beats everything hands down for those who I care about.

I was once dating a man who constantly checked their facebook account and would prefer to trawl through photographs of women that were 'friends' than have a conversation with me. Needless to say, that relationship is over, but it has led to a distaste in the platform that can be beneficial and enhance your life experiences. Too many people are becoming anti-social and are losing touch with things that really matter because they are addicted to facebook accounts.

In a coffee shop in Atlanta the other day, I saw three people that were obviously studying or doing homework in the coffee shop. Each of them continually checked their facebook accounts. Surely, that must effect their ability to study. Just like when you are at work - if you are spending time checking your facebook account, you are obviously not concentrating on what you are doing and cannot possibly be giving your work 100% of your effort.

How can you tell if you are spending too much time on facebook? Here are some simple ways to see if your habits are in need of change:-

1. You get into arguments because of group titles, posts and comments on facebook
2. You have more than 500 friends
3. You update your status to give 325 people (150 friends, 100 you barely know, 10 you don't care for, 50 random strangers, 5 exs and 5 stalkers) detailed information on where you are at and what you are doing.
4. You message randomly
5. Your suppose to be working
6. You haven't picked up a phone or talked to someone in person for 24 hours
7. You are at a friends place to hang out and you log onto facebook
8. You trawl through people's photos that are not in your top20 friends
9. You mention to friends other people's status and in particular an ex's status on an ongoing basis
10. You say personal things on your facebook account

What are your thoughts? Is Facebook sleezy?

Mellissah Smith, Atlanta.