Is the World Addicted to Facebook? Part Two
Google used to be the most visited website in the United States but not any more Facebook shot past it last year.
Many people logging on to Facebook aren't just visiting a time or two per day, they're constantly checking in fueled by a Facebook addiction.
"When I first heard about it, it was because my brother had just started college and I had heard that it was like Myspace but for older kids, for college and above."
Browsing through her photos on the website is like taking a stroll down memory lane. By pressing the back button you can see her go to prom,
take part in Maine days as a college freshman at UMaine, and win the title of Miss. Maine collegiate.
The website has helped her stay connected with her friends past and present.
"I have a friend who's in New Hampshire and a couple that are in Massachusetts so it's kind of nice because it's a way to keep in touch with them," she said.
Kristy even keeps up with her mother, Darlene, who has a much different take on the social network. At first she didn't understand it.
"One of my nieces sent me a message it said LOL, I though lots of love, I didn't know it was laugh out loud," she said.
But Kristy was there to help navigate her through the Facebook world.
Before she knew it she was reconnecting with friends from her past including one of her good friends from high school.
"We just talked about family and she's been doing for work it was interesting but it was kind of strange," Darlene said.
As good as Facebook is for keeping people conneted, spending all that time online checking out what other people are up to can start affecting your real life.
Kristy says sometimes she'll log on to look at one thing but sometimes she'll get distracted.
"I have a friend that ran the Boston marathon and I had no idea she was doing it so I looked through all the pictures and I looked through all the comments and discussions that people have been having and it was like an hours had gone by and I was like holy cow."
For some checking Facebook once a day is just not enough. Some Facebookers are online six to seven hours day, that's time spent online away from the real world.
"I think it is a problem for some people, I mean I know certain people and they've updated their status 10 or 20 times and it's like you'd have to be on there all day to have done that."
Kristy says her self control has kept her from becoming addicted, but worries for others.
"There needs to be a separation between what's on the computer and what's for real because if you lose touch with people that becomes your reality."
People around here need to think outside the box. In Maine, Facebook is something you can be addicted to. But in more urban parts of the country, people are embracing it as a tool. Maine is just behind the times. Parents are fueling this argument that Facebook is addictive, because when they grew up there wasn't anything like this. But at my university in New York, our professors have it and they use it to distribute important documents out to students because Facebook was created for this. It is also a great tool for networking. I can get in touch with any alumni or meet up with old friends. If we discourage Facebook or look down upon it and call it "addictive" then we are taking a very valuable tool away from the kids of our state.
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