Twentieth Thought

Facebook...

Hmmmmmm

I wonder to myself, to keep, or not to keep? To reduce?
But why?
Well, lets start with this question. Why do I have a facebook? (Why does anyone for that matter?)

1. To keep in touch with people
( Isn't that what an e-mail is for? And one needs an e-mail to create an account on Facebook, so I could conceivably email anyone I wanted to keep in contact with...)

2. To organize get-togethers of various kinds.
( See the parentheses for number one)

3. To share pictures
(Pictures that I abdicate the right to, in Facebooks ever changing policy.)

3. To update people on what's going on and how I'm feeling.
(Talking in person, AIM, talking on the phone or even snail mail are all much more reliable than that. Facebook statuses are much like twitter, a bunch of people talking at each other but not listening. Hmm.)

So with that said. Why do i have a Facebook?
Probably because I am addicted, like so many others, to being connected to people at all times.
If I don't check my Facebook for too long, I worry how many comments or messages I may have missed. The idea of waiting, or having someone else wait, seems inconceivable.

I think the best course of action would be to minimize my Facebook and check it as I would check my e-mail.
I am doing so for the following reasons:
Firstly, I feel like electronic socialization is replacing in person socialization, and that in having social "fixes" people who are away from me, I am diminishing motivation to actually call or visit them.
Another reason is I feel Facebook absorbs too much of my time that could be devoted to more worthwhile pursuits. Books remain unread, textbooks remain un-studied, essays unwritten, and friends and loved ones un-visited and attended to.
In conclusion my Facebook shall remain in existence, but reduced to the bare minimum for convenience. Thank you for your time.


(I know this sounded ridiculously formal, but that's just the way it ended up, and I think it effectively said what I wanted to be said.)