i have been brooding about something for quite sometime and i have finally managed to organize enough thoughts to vent about. in my opinion facebook has bloated into an entity that has become too big and too hard to easily control by the user. it's almost as if we have all, collectively, contributed to a Frankenstein monster that has the ability to turn on us at any given time. we all know of the benefits that facebook provides, an easy way to share news and pictures with friends and family, including long, lost friends from past phases of life, it has even integrated itself into businesses, restaurants, and places we shop but it's important to remember: these things were already possible before facebook. maybe not as easily as hitting "publish", or searching on "friends", but with a little diligence and some determination it could still be done.
i am starting to wonder if somewhere along the line, we haven't sold ourselves off and traded our privacy for a little ease of use. in some ways i hope that the facebook phenomenon has peaked and started to subside. i don't have any data to back that theory up but i do know countless people who have created accounts and visit the site very little, if at all, anymore. they have come to realize that the constant invitation to join groups, meaningless comments, and in some cases, having applications post on their behalf, (yes, this is a common occurrence if you don't have your privacy settings nailed down), just isn't worth it. in a lot of ways, they may be right.
when you create an account on facebook you are generally prompted to send friend invites to everyone in your email contact. yes, you can pick and choose but i have plenty of people in my contact list who i would never want to become facebook friends with. the problem is, many people don't want to be bothered with the fine print, and really shouldn't have to be. what's sounds like a great cause to support, or group to join, suddenly turns into a barrage of comments, and postings, that clog up your feed and end up irritating you more than not. when weighing the pro's and cons of using facebook, here are a few cons that should be considered:
data mining: facebook tells you straight up that they may use information they collect from you to "supplement your profile". what does that even mean? i thought i was controlling my profile?
inability to voluntarily terminate accounts: what happens if i delete my account? sure, it may not be viewable on facebook, but is all my data sitting on a server somewhere? what happens to that?
photo recognition and face-tagging: so any picture of me posted by anyone on facebook can be identified as being me? i have to choose to turn "off" this feature?
relationships: social networks can stress marriages where one spouse can become worried about the others interaction with people online. in the UK, facebook is listed as being the cause of 20-33% of all divorces.
envy: people have 935 friends on facebook? even if you are as popular as you claim, i can guarantee you are not having meaningful relationships with 900+ people. i shudder to think of the pointless posts, invites to games and causes, and pictures of food in your facebook feed. does he who dies with the most facebook friends win?
self-esteem: what makes people change their profile pictures every week? i can see a couple of times a year to keep things fresh but, weekly? the same close up picture of your face when you are obviously posing and taking the pic yourself from your smart phone? i don't get it. we know what you look like, remember, we're your friend.
political and religious views: i have facebook friends that run the gamut on these issues. i can't tell people what they should or shouldn't post but i can say that people are generally more bold online than they are in real life. there's a certain anonymity to it because they are usually "sharing" a point of view based on another user's content. my opinion on these things has always been, if i agree with you, i already agree, and if i don't, you're not going to change my mind by posting something on facebook. it's pointless and serves little purpose than stirring up the pot and creating a frenzy of ping-pong responses. we've all seen them, and i have been involved myself.
drama: i've seen people on facebook air their dirty laundry for all to see. really? facebook is the best forum for this? pick up the phone, or better yet, have a face to face with your "friend". just say "no" to facebook drama.
like: what happens if someone reads your post and doesn't hit "like"? does that mean they don't like it? do they hate it? what does this ambiguity mean? apathy? but, these are my friends? how can they be apathetic towards something i feel is important enough to post about?
history: we've all heard that potential employers have used facebook to research potential employees. with so little control over what is discoverable, despite privacy settings, this really gives your potential employer the upper hand when trying to gain a sample slice of your lifestyle. once it's out there, it's already too late.
i get that people use facebook as a means to express their lives digitally online to share with others. but it has become so much more than that. it has changed and i'm not sure it's for the better. i have had this blog for years to express my thoughts, share photos, and wax eloquently about a given topic and for me that's probably enough. i do use facebook, maybe not as much as i used to and certainly not as much as some of my friends but i am not as sharing as i once was. i have locked it down to the point where nobody posts to my wall but me, and i use very few applications and those i do use, don't post on my behalf.
in conclusion, i think that facebook started out as a viable way to network with friends and family, but due in part to it's enormous growth over the past few years it has transitioned into a social network behemoth, marred with flaws and a myriad of potential pitfalls. my advice would be, if you choose to use facebook, be aware of the points listed above, lock down your security and privacy settings, think twice before posting, and limit the information you choose to share as much as possible.
