babbling blue

Facebook addict? You’re not alone. From CNN:

One day recently, Cynthia Newton’s 12-year-old daughter asked her for help with homework, but Newton didn’t want to help her, because she was too busy on Facebook. So her daughter went upstairs to her room and sent an e-mail asking her for help, but Newton didn’t see the e-mail, because, well, she was too busy on Facebook.

Wow, the poor daughter… at least the Cynthia has admitted she has a problem. That’s the first step.

Although there are no statistics on “Facebook addiction” — it isn’t an actual medical diagnosis — therapists say they’re seeing more and more people like Newton who’ve crossed the line from social networking to social dysfunction.

This doesn’t surprise me. From my observations, Facebook can be highly addicting, and is a giant time sink. While I don’t know anyone who has reached the epic level of dysfunction Cynthia has, I do have friends (who shall remain nameless) who can’t seem to make it through a meal at a restaurant without checking Facebook on their phones.

What are the clues that you may have a problem with Facebook? Well…read the article! Also check out “Seven Signs You May Be Ready for a Social Media Detox”.

I am a social networking resister. I do not Myspace. I do not Facebook. I did use friendster. I remember when it was the big social networking site, and everyone cool was on there. But then Myspace came along and friendster became a ghost town. I finally deleted my friendster profile over the weekend. And now Facebook is all the rage, and Myspace is old hat (much like the saying “old hat” is itself rather old hat). How long will that last before the next big thing rolls into town? I don’t know. Maybe Facebook will prove to have more staying power than its numerous predecessors (anyone remember sixdegrees.com?).

I don’t really care. I’m not interested. I have better things to do with my time than update friends and acquaintances on the minutiae of my mundane life. I only post to this blog a few times a month. Why on earth would I want to go on Facebook every day? I have enough time-wasting activities in my life as it is. Why do I need another one? I’ve heard the various arguments and none of them are convincing. I don’t want to connect with people from high school; I hated most of those people. I don’t want to keep track of what everyone I know (with a Facebook account) is up to, and I don’t want to broadcast to them what I’m up to either. If people care enough they can. . . you know. . . talk to me to find out. I sure as hell don’t want people tagging pictures of me for everyone I know to see. And I don’t want people scrawling silly nonsense on my “wall”.

Call me old if you like, but there are plenty of people older than me on Facebook and Myspace (though I still think they are for kids, like Trix). Call me a Luddite, but I very much enjoy technology and new things. Call me a curmudgeon and you might be getting warmer. But I prefer to just call myself a Resister.

Resistance is not futile. Be strong! Just Say No to Facebook!

I am not alone:
One, Two, Three, Four, Five