(Get) Outta My Facebook!

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Mundane Microblogging Feeds The Smoldering Fires Of Facebook Addiction

While the headline might sound a little extreme, there has to be more than a little bit of truth about Facebook and Internet addiction. It’s difficult to classify your computer online time as an addiction, but if you think about how a person reacts when they have something taken away from them (cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, Internet connection), then it isn’t hard to consider the Internet (and Facebook) as an addiction source.

People who are close to me have a hard time putting down their laptops or turning off their computers because they have constantly reading and replying to the endless stream of mundane microblogging comments in their Facebook status updates. They will spend hours responding to ordinary remarks such as “Joan is still waiting for her hair to dry”, “Bob is organizing his carpet nails”, or “Billy is thinking about updating his Facebook status.”

I can understand that people can’t all live exciting lives 24-hours per day, and that we can’t all be planning Vegas trips, or skydiving, or buying new Ferraris on a weekly basis, and so the Facebook updates can’t always be filled with explosively exciting comments. But seriously, when people are absolutely fascinated by what you had for breakfast, and need to know what their 300 friends are doing every minute of every day, then it’s time to re-examine your relationship with your computer, your Facebook account, and your broadband connection in general.

When does this stop being a hobby or a pastime and becomes an addiction or obsession? I suppose when your Facebook status fascination starts interfering with your “real life” and you stop talking to your friends in favour of reading their personal updates instead.

While reading Facebook status updates can be a mildly assuming pastime, constantly refreshing your page in order to keep up with the pulse of all your friends might be construed as a problem. Seriously, do you really need to know that your girlfriend is going to spend her afternoon organizing her dresses by the colour spectrum?

Facebook Can Be Just As Addicting As Alcohol Or Video Games

No, this isn’t one of those quizzes that will test your personality and determine your whole existence based on a short series of questions. Instead, this is just a small wake-up call to see if perhaps you are spending just a little too much time on Facebook.

Keeping in touch with friends and family and coworkers is fine, if you do it in moderation, and it doesn’t detract from other Real-Life ™ activities. So, if you log in to your Facebook account in the morning for a few minutes, or you sign in at night, after work when the kids have all gone to bed, you are probably not a Facebook addict.

But, if you are a person who constantly needs to know what all your friends are doing, and you are sitting in front of your computer refreshing the page waiting for new updates, then perhaps you are hooked on Facebook.

When you go to work, is it necessary for you to log in to Facebook on your breaks? Are you letting Facebook interfere with your work, putting aside tasks and assignments to see if you have any new messages or friend requests?

Are you using the Facebook application on your phone? Do you commute to and from work every day with your mobile Facebook in your face the entire time? Are you avoiding interaction with other real people because you’re more interested in what people typed in what they had for breakfast? Maybe you are addicted to Facebook!

Like any other addiction, you have to understand if Facebook is changing the way you think, interact, or organize your schedule. If you find that you are compromising activities, such as household chores, personal hygiene, shopping, or eating, then you might be a Facebook addict.

If you think you are just a little bit too attached to Facebook, then think about talking to a medical professional to see what can be done to curb your interests in this online social network, and focus your will on other normal pursuits.

Facebook in moderation is the key. It doesn’t need to become an obsession.