Facebook Addiction
Are you one of those users who have Facebook as your home page and have configured your mobile phones and IPads to access Facebook at the click of a button? Do you spend more than 60% of your online time checking out Facebook notifications, videos and photos? If so, be careful. You may be unconsciously getting addicted to Facebook.
Addicted to Facebook
There are several compulsive Facebook users out there who spend several hours on meaningless Facebook status updates and browsing through Facebook updates of friends. They take pride in the number of online friends that they have, often having never met any of them in real life. In fact, several of these profiles could be fake ids created for marketing purposes by an industry which thrives by selling Facebook “likes”.
If you are naïve enough to fall a prey to these marketing gimmicks then you have no one to blame but yourselves.
The one main drawback of spending excessive amounts of time on Facebook is that it seriously affects your productivity. If you are one of the several million people out there who earn a living by working on machine that is permanently connected to the internet, then chances are that a lot of time is spend just checking out Facebook updates and refreshing the Facebook page. This affects your focus on tasks at hand and you are likely to end up achieving next to nothing on to do list at work.
No wonder then, that most smart corporate including IT firms have blocked Facebook access to their employees during work hours. It is considered a serious time waster, with no benefits accrued in return. Therefore you must make it a point to log out of Facebook even if you are online, once you have spend time updating your status message and reading updates from friends. Make it a point to respond to updates from friends not through Facebook but rather in person or through phone. If you think it is too trivial to respond then stay away from posting an update just for the heck of it.
You must also turn off email alerts from Facebook as that is one of the key reasons why you would keep logging into Facebook to check what is the latest update from your friend circle. Do not make use of apps such as birthday reminders. Instead, go the traditional pen and paper method. Buy a calendar and mark out the important days in it. This will help you in keeping track of key events such as birthdays and anniversaries without having to rely on Facebook to remind you.
Facebook and other similar sites which get dynamic content that is updated every second are a major distraction to managing your work day. Therefore, it is important that you avoid Facebook and other distractions if you are planning to get productive work done. In the event, that you are a home business and would want an online presence and if social media is one of your marketing strategies, then it is important to plan the time that you want to spend on Facebook. Allocate specific time slots for status updates and responding to user comments and Facebook notifications. At other times sign out from Facebook and avoid Facebook at all costs. Better still, outsource your social media strategy to someone who specializes in it. That way, you can take advantage of the merits of Facebook without actually falling a prey to their time-consuming distractions.
If you are not a business house large enough to outsource your Facebook strategy, then you may probably want to pre-decide on the activities that you want to do online and allot specific time lines to achieving those milestones. Remember also, that it is not the number of likes that you receive in your Faecbook page that decides how much revenue you make. You must be able to engage with your potential customers effectively such that they actually hop over to your website and make the purchase.
Another major group who should avoid Facebook is students. Students often become part of various groups and the peer pressure to join is very huge. However, it acts as a serious hamper to focused studying, and parents need to monitor the time spend by students online. Parents should encourage students to partake in activities which help them develop real life friends such as outdoor games rather than spend time online playing Facebook games and interacting with potentially dangerous virtual friends.
Teachers should also encourage kids to stay away from excessive social networking sites and spread the awareness about the various potential problems associated with spending excessive time online, especially on social networking sites such as Facebook. Gaming enthusiasts also need to make sure that they avoid Facebook, as it takes gaming addiction to a new level. Most games in Facebook are designed to engage the user in the initial levels and then expect you to pay up to enjoy the higher levels of the game. It is very easy to lose money on Facebook games and the only people who would laugh all the way to the bank would be the game designers.
If you are keen on gaming, then at least focus on real life sports such as football or basketball that will help you develop social skills as well as help you in remaining fit and healthy.
Facebook is just another way in which the need for companionship and recognition that is inherent in most of us is being used by smart programming. Facebook tried to promote itself by making you feel that you are losing out on something if you are not part of it. However, if you want to improve your productivity and make your life is simple, then avoid Facebook or at least the addicting Facebook games. It is an unnecessary addiction that is best avoided. You will not gain anything by being a part of Facebook. On the other hand, you have plenty to lose if you spend too much time on Facebook and start neglecting the other aspects of your life.
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Yes, it is really nice that we can keep in touch with people and that’s one of our concern in joining some social network site, but somehow it really makes us to login and stay logged in for long time and makes us looking ourselves on computer always – sort of kinda addictive. Isn’t it?
CONNECTING TO EVERY FRIENDS WITH FACEBOOK IS WHAT I WANT, DISTANCE DOES NOT MATTER ANYMORE!! LIFE IS OUT THERE !!! BUT WASTE OF TIME!!!
Let our eyes open about this addiction problems with popular social networks like facebook, twitter and youtube… I guess self-discipline is the most proper way to avoid such problems
I use facebook as a tool for communicating with some of my friend, but then the compulsion took me by surprise that now I’ve been addicted, Facebook can go completely out of control. If someone would show me how to avoid facebook completely I will give my full attention.
Facebook can be very distracting due to it’s addictive effects and thereby spoil studying and everything. I also believe that it’s a playground for rumours and bullying. Some of us are too coward to say things face to face, so we use facebook so we can say whatever we want, to whoever we want
I hate facebook don’t know why people worship it and yes it can cause problems if we are not using it properly, may even brake up families and relationships.
Does facebook addiction can be easily treated by simply avoiding facebook itself? I guess facebook with its such wide network would be difficult to end or quit but surely be fading out because of future advancements, let’s just wait till it’s over!
Take and do everything in self-control, too much of everything, including the good, is bad. Excessive use of anything especially internet use is harmful to our health. Avoiding the addiction to Facebook is one of the thing parents need to be aware of.
A good indicator is the amount of time that you spend each day checking status updates on Facebook. Unless you own a business and you are using Facebook to make money through your social networking strategies.
Facebook is really one of great concept in terms of social networking and is fine in moderation but we have to be sure to use our time productively. We have to set limits, reconnect with our family and friends in real-time, and be alert to signs that we’re stepping over the line from casual use to what we call Social Network Addiction or Facebook Addiction!!!
Replace virtual games with an outdoor game of soccer or baseball……I mean physical outdoor games. If you enjoy games in Facebook such as Farmville, why don’t you avoid Facebook and do actual gardening?
How about Facebook makes academic games that helps you to make good grades. I am sure that they can do that for each subject out there. Why just focus on games. I guess games makes them earn money and good grades don’t make them make money. It’s all about money in the end.
Facebook do have a lot of games you can play as you sign into your account. You can now see that something that started as a forum to socialize with old friends has now evolved into a game site. Why do they need so many games in Facebook? I wonder why that is!
If you have ever signed up for an account on any of the social networking sites like facebook, you would understand better how addictive they can actually get. In essence, FB is designed and upgraded so as to make people stay longer than they wanted to anytime they do visit.
One thing for sure is that no one on earth has more than 24 hours per day. Everyone is apportioned the same number of hours for each day spent. How you spent it your call. Spending it on FB is your choice. In order to succeed you have to do something others are not doing. The numbers speaks for them self.
They definitely set the pace for lack of concentration on your homework, which will naturally lead to poor academic performance. Funny I write this while I am on Facebook. I am one of those who knows about it still tied to FB
New designs of Facebook are actually making it possible for you to spend lesser number of hours on things that actually matter most with regard to your well being. Such things like your academic pursuit will surely receive a low grade as you keep spending those precious moments on Facebook rather than spending the time on studying.
I am glad the site has lots of people commenting about the issue at hand. So here is my two cents…No matter what your level in life you are a direct product of the amount of knowledge you have. For that reason, it is not right for one to take for granted his academic pursuit as it is the necessary tool needed to make all dreams come through. Spending way too much time on Facebook might put a damper on your dream.
I think FB addiction is mostly among young people. Young people do not have the kind of personal defense mechanism adults have. It is easier for an adult to wade off the pressure to indulge in one form of vice or the other, but that is not just easy to deal with in the case of a teenager.
I enjoyed the truth in this article and the videos associated with FB addiction. I agree and know for a fact that many users are hiding and living in their FB world b/c they can communicate better online it definitely boosts their self esteem seeing how many friends they have accumulated. I know for a fact that many users do not have 500 real friends that have major insecurities, personality disorders and low self esteem. They would not communicate with these people live, they would not sacrifice the time and/or effort. I agree people are being judged via this Social media oh my …look how many friends I have, you only have 20 friends pathetic, it truly is an addiction and many are in denial FB is a Farce and only time will tell when they realize their is more to life than daily, hourly FB. It is sad to see so many blinded by this like they are worshiping and idol, but they will continue to do what everyone else thinks is cool, they will continue to be blinded as to them this is the In thing to do FB makes it easy and until they get a real life and live outside FB.
Ginger, Your comments and understanding of the issues, concerns and addictions we are facing with our society in this digital age is highly commendable.
Thank you for your thoughts and the time for making the comment.
Hello, I hope someone can help me with this
I’m a student and I recently landed an internship (a course requirement for school).
I would be in the marketing department, assisting with promotions, designing their website/blog, updating their twitter and/or facebook accounts etc.
My boss asked me to Add myself to their Company Fan page.
Problem is, I don’t have facebook! How do I reply to this ” Sorry I can’t like the company FB page, because I dont have a facebook account?”
Is there anyway to respond to this without sounding awkward. I had privacy issues in high school and was told to keep my online visibility private for legal reasons.
Please help. Do you think my boss will fire me for not having a facebook account? I thought I could just update their social media accounts for them ( I am familiar with how to use fb and twitter but i do not have personal accounts) and that would be okay..?
I hate how people react when I tell them I’m not on Facebook. As if that’s not normal or something! It’s not required for people to have facebook, i know it’s easier to communicate but if you realy need to contact me just phone, text or email me.
Thanks for your help.
The answer below was posted to a question asked by another user. And I think it will work in your situation.
Here is the quote from 2BoysBlue:
“Even if you are an angel, this is a big no no! When this happens to me and it does, I just tell bosses and coworkers that I have a personal rule not to Facebook with work. FB is a place where I keep up with people that I dont see daily. If you work with me, you see me and dont need to see me in photos. Everyone laughs it off and agrees. Problem solved.”