My teenagers spend too much time on Facebook! They’re not alone. The numbers are staggering. There are 60 million active Facebook users, who spend an average of 20 minutes each day on the site. My teenagers (one HS, one college) spend more time than that on the site. In fact, more than half of Facebook users return daily, which tells me my kids’ behavior is not unusual. There are 250,000 new registrations each day, with 65 billion page views per month. It’s also the No. 1 photo sharing site on the web. More than half of Facebook users are outside of college, with 25 years and older being the fastest growing demographic. At this rate, Facebook could take over the world, everyone would be in a social network, and there would be no war, or conversations.
The term “social network” is a misnomer. What is social about sitting in front of a computer for 20 minutes or more a day when you could be have a real conversation, live or over the telephone, to your real friends. Some kids think talking is lame when you can text or go on a computer and post something on someone’s wall. Sure, sharing pictures of your friends shows your other “friends” how much fun you’re having. But when you’re simply adding more devices between you and the other people with whom you’re interacting, what’s social about this?
I have my own hierarchy of social interaction:
- Talking, The Original Social Network™, which includes face-to-face and telephone conversations (and involves taking time to listen, another important skill lost in the proliferation of social networks).
- E-mailing, which involves a computer but is person-to-person interaction, although e-mail doesn’t allow people to really “connect” and in this way, is rarely personal or intimate.
- IM’ing, Chat and SMS/Texting which, based on the Text messages and IM’s I’ve seen, are so cryptic as to not qualify as a conversation or meeting of the minds.
- Social Network, including MySpace, Facebook, Reunion, etc.
I made a New Year’s Resolution to e-mail less and call friends more often, on the telephone. Whenever I have time, driving in a car or waiting for a plane, I now call and talk to my friends, Let’s talk soon!!!
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