The Facebook : Why to Unplug

The Facebook is a system. That system, is our enemy. When you look inside, you look around, what do you see? Students, business folk, lawyers, teachers, friends, the very minds of the people we are reaching out to; but until we do, these people are still a part of the Facebook. You have to understand, most of these people, are not ready to be unplugged. Many of them are so emerged, so hopelessly dependent on the Facebook, that they will fight to protect it and keep it from changing.

If you’re not one of us, you could be one of them, a Facebook lurker. They can move in and out of any persons life that they’ve added as their friend. That means that anybody you’ve added, is potentially a stalker. Inside the Facebook, they are everyone, and they are no one.

Are you listening to me? Or are you Facebook lurking your ex in the red dress?

Taken to the extreme, the aforementioned isn’t too out of context. People spend countless hours, if not days of their lives, stumbling through profile after profile of people they’ll probably never see or talk to again. Why? Because you can. It’s our nature as humans, curiosity. Many of those that thrive on Facebook, do so for the attention. They want to be seen, known, and know about everything that’s going on with everyone. Change. Unplug. Here’s why.

It’s Invasive

Privacy? Try again. Data mining, ever heard of it? Facebook isn’t free. It comes at the cost of the information you provide it with. Like an autonomous digital Blob, everything you feed the Facebook will come back to haunt you at some point. Facebook status set as single? Make sure to click on the flier of that hot single Christian chick for me. Maybe she’ll get back with you. What’s that you say? You have no fields filled out but just your name? Well then, the Facebook will feed off your friends to find ads that hopefully you’ll find interesting. One day Facebook recommended I become a fan of Dave Matthew’s Band, I then tried to suggest to Facebook to become a fan of blowing me to no avail. However, at least the Facebook was capable of showing me I have friends with shitty taste in music.

Embarassment

I really shouldn’t have to explain this one. It’s pretty much a no-brainer. I’m sure anyone who’s spent a modest amount of time on Facebook has stumbled upon photos of people in countless humiliating positions, stances, or situations. This one hits close to home, primarily because I thought it’d be wise to be Kerri Walsh last Halloween. In retrospect, Speedo’s aren’t as uncomfortable as you’d think. However, being at work the next morning and having people pulling up tagged pictures in said costume resulted in A. People having a clear view of my schwantz B. Embarassment.

Jealousy

Lets face it. If you’re on Facebook, you will at some point, be friends with an ex or friend of friends of an ex. In a study done just this year, researchers said, “Our data showed a significant association between time spent on Facebook and jealousy-related feelings and behaviors experienced on Facebook.” That said, it’s a viscous cycle, break-up, lurk, see jealousy-provoking content, Facebook jealousy rage, Shooting. Too soon?

Procrastination

This one speaks for itself. You know it, I know it, we all know it. Facebook epitomizes procrastination at its finest. For example, if you find yourself taking a quiz to find any direction with your life, you’re a fucking idiot. Case closed. Sorry. You aren’t E from Entourage, you’re not Carrie Bradshaw from Sex in the City, and if you were? No one still would have sex with you.

Image-Preservation

Your image is the one of the few things you have control over of in your life, perception of yourself among others. What better way to spoil that control then to give people the privilege to tag you in damn near anything they please? Don’t let a tagged photo ruin you.

Rampant Narcissism

Research suggests growing narcissism in Generation Y, based on 40 questions used for decades. Scoring 21 or more indicates more narcissistic traits. In the 1980s, one of seven scored in that range; now it’s one in four. Get over yourself, stop the notes, the quizzes, the inane status updates, please. For the love of Google, stop.

Conclusion:

Consider the aforementioned to just be a brief overarching look at reasons to rid yourself of Facebook. If those aren’t enough, below are a few links to Facebook related news stories that are unnerving to say the least:

- Teen Jailed for Facebook Death Threat
“Keeley is going to murder the bitch,” Houghton wrote on her Facebook page. “She is an actress. What a ——- liberty. Emily —-head Moore.”

- Man announces suicide on Facebook
In February an aspiring actor and model named Paul Zolezzi hanged himself on the monkey bars of a Brooklyn, N.Y., park after posting a suicide note on Facebook.

- Facebook : All your stuff is ours, even if you quit.
All of the content you’ve ever uploaded on Facebook, can be used, modified or even sublicensed by Facebook in every possible way – even if you quit the service.

- Facebook: Crime Fighter or Suicide Inducer
“Among young people often a key factor in them committing suicide is the trauma of transient relationships,” Nichols says. “They throw themselves into a friendship or network of friendships, then it collapses and they’re desolate.”

- Facebook Threatens Relationships
Preliminary findings, described in the journal CyberPsychology & Behavior, suggest that rather than enhancing communication between romantic partners, Facebook use may be fueling wild flights of jealous investigation, as users in relationships perceive hints of potential infidelity and then scramble to find evidence of a partner’s unfaithful thoughts or behavior.

Exceptions:

1. You don’t abuse, live, thrive, lurk and or find yourself habitually using the Facebook.
2. You live far away from your real life friends.
3. Carried to the extreme, this logic could be applied to internet on the whole, and be contradictory within itself. However, who’d be silly enough to think we could survive without the internet? The internet is actually functionally useful, lets be real here. It is 11 AG.
4. This post isn’t meant to cast Facebook out, it’s here to remind Facebooker’s that everything is good in moderation. You may not delete your Facebook after this post, but hopefully you re-evaluate your stance and usage on it (if need be).

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 23rd, 2009 at 9:42 pm and is filed under Tech and tagged with Facebook, Social Networking, Unplugging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.