Facebook (noun): The internet's most powerful drug

Facebook has taken over our generation as our alternative reality. Every day, millions of Americans log onto the social network and spend hours browsing through their news feed, ‘creeping’ on their friends pictures, statuses, and wall posts. So what gives? What is it about Facebook that gets users to spend hours of their free time surfing the site, and is it good for our society to be so connected to an online society like Facebook?

In 2004, after the site had only been active for a few months, it had just over one million users. Today, Facebook claims over 500 million users. It seems to have become the favorite way to pass time for Americans; sorry baseball, you are quickly being overrun. But it’s not just baseball; Facebook has managed to seep into all aspects of our lives. From cell phones and tablet computers to cars and televisions, Facebook apps are now the standard app for mobile devices. Seriously, do we really need Facebook for your car? There comes a point where Facebook should stop with the closing of a browser window and we continue on with our real world lives.

Facebook has undoubtedly made its way into your life in one way or another. If you aren’t a user, then you know at least one user. With those odds Facebook has successfully built an army of users. These Facebook ‘addicts’ spend up to eight hours a day on the site. Realistically, people in a working society do not have eight hours of free time, those hours begin to cut into sleep and work time. Facebook has such a grip on our culture that people are putting work, family, and other personal needs after their Facebook.

A recent study conducted by the BBC showed a link between overuse of the internet and early onset depression and anxiety in teens. A group of teens who had no prior mental illnesses were set up with a computer and were allowed to spend as much time as they desired surfing the web. After a few months, the teens were sent to a psychologist who diagnosed 1.2% of the study group with internet addiction, most of which showed signs of depression and anxiety. That study seemed to hold quite the argument until the results were shown, of over 1000 teens examined, only about ten to fifteen kids showed signs of a mental addiction. Maybe Facebook isn’t that bad for you, even in excess; but do we really need Facebook there as a crutch for social interaction while away from being at our computer? America is passed being obsessed with Facebook in my opinion; we are now reliant of the site. It seems that people have lost the ‘old school’ skills of face to face interaction. Commercials for products like the new Windows phone and Miller Light beer have done a good job of bringing the issue to light. The phone commercials have a montage of people looking foolish in real life situations because they are too attached to their phone, texting and using the Facebook app. The beer commercial depicts a man ordering a beer at a sporting event and trying to be flirty by speaking in an SMS language of ‘lol’ ‘omg’ and the incredibly cute, J. These commercials use a pathos centered appeal to viewers who find are able to relate what they see to someone they know or themselves.

We have become a country where you can have whatever you want through the internet; fame, clothes, cars, love, and simple human connection, emphasis on simple. The internet has opened many doors for its users but in some instances it has come to a point that all those open doors created a maze, and the user has a hard time finding their way back to the real world. Lost in the ether some people can develop anxiety disorders and depression according to the BBC study. The point is, even though there are not direct effects of the internet of the human psyche shown through medical science, we are undoubtedly addicted. Facebook is a fun site, I use it and everyone I know uses it, but we need to know when to be logged into the web and when to be logged into the real world.