Is Facebook Ruining Your Social Life?

Facebook is one of those online phenomena that has gone completely and utterly viral. At the speed of light, millions of human beings volunteer to chop up their lives into bits and pieces and serve them for the world to chew on. We're all guilty of it to some degree. We've convinced ourselves that tools like Facebook keep us connected with the world. And they do. There are definitely benefits to being computer literate and Internet savvy. But take a deeper look at your Facebook use and you might realize that in many ways does more harm than good.

Photo Album Addiction and Green Grass Syndrome

How many times have you sat down at your computer and scrolled through pages and pages of photographs of people whom you don't even know? How happy they look laying on the beach, hopping around at night clubs, standing arm in arm with groups of smiling people... You begin to construct stories surrounding these pictures. The endings are always neat and tidy. And then suddenly you find yourself wondering whether your life is as interesting. At once, this stranger's photo album becomes some sort of measuring tool. This is what's known as "Green Grass Syndrome"-a condition that keeps us from appreciating the things that are right before us. It isn't that we shouldn't take pride in the final moments of our lives. But what you must remember is that most people only take photographs during happy moments. Very rarely will you see photographs when people are angry, sad, tired, or even bored. In other words, Facebook gives us an inaccurate picture of what a person's life is really like.

Facebook Prevents Closure

Countless numbers of people spend a good deal of time on Facebook keeping up with the lives of their exes. They want to know if they've moved on, whom they've moved on with, whether they're miserable--- the details go on and on... In short, Facebook makes it very easy to "stalk" privately (provided that the object of your interest keeps his or her details public.) This makes it very difficult to cut one's losses and move on peacefully. There simply is too much information at your fingertips to roll around in your brain (or do damage with.)

Over-Sharing and Under-Sharing

Have you noticed that many Facebook users display comments that evolve into full-blown group discussions? It would seem that Facebook has taken over where chat rooms left off. But something interesting happens when a person sitting at his computer suddenly he feels empowered to reveal all sorts of things, including unpopular opinions about sensitive topics. Said person may even goad perfect strangers into debate merely to get their blood boiling. Ironically the same person is probably the least communicative when around humans in real life. Facebook sets up the ideal environment for "over-sharing." We feel perfectly at ease to give details about the most trivial aspects of our lives. One might even say that using Facebook as a primary source of communication hinders our desire to talk to people in real time.

Romantic Buzz Kill

Let's say for instance you meet a really hot girl (or guy.) You've exchanged phone numbers and e-mail addresses. And you've even become Facebook friends. You are probably tempted to visit her Facebook wall and pore through all of the comments, gifts, links, and photos that you can find. But you'd better not. It is very easy to make blanket assumptions about people based on the tidbits of information leaked onto their Facebook pages. As such, it can make dating or getting to know someone in person that much more difficult. A person with lots of friends of the opposite sex isn't necessarily a player; and a person with just one or two friends isn't necessarily a Saint. But you must remember that people use Facebook for hundreds of different reasons; you'll never really be able to determine one's true intent. The best thing for you to do is actually spend time with your potential love interest and leave all Facebook assumptions at your computer.

SOURCES:

www.facebook.com
www.ivillage.com
www.cosmopolitan.com