The Trouble with Facebook?

             Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg as a hobby project during his time at Harvard. Within months, Facebook began to spread through the dorms of Harvard and its ideas were accepted by many students. Inevitably, word gets around, and Facebook had reached the ears of students at Stanford and Yale; like Harvard, it was widely endorsed.  Before Zuckerberg knew it, Facebook had become the new “in” for student social networking. Today it ranks as number one in social networking, topping MySpace, Friendster, Xanga, hi5, and Bebo. Facebook has undoubtedly increased the ways that people can communicate and interact, but at the same time it can harm the well-being of humans.    

Over 140 million people worldwide, and still growing, have joined the social networking phenomenon. Facebook users have gained the ability to keep in touch with loved ones, friends, business partners, and meet new people. In this aspect, Facebook is viewed as a positive addition to the world, and it is true. However, people tend to only notice the positive factors without looking at the negative ones. The popularity of Facebook resides in early teenagers and college students. The problem that Facebook can create is ironic itself. One word that can sum up Facebook is “friends,” and that same word is also the problem.

Having many friends is a good thing, but is having enough ever enough? For some teenagers, this is a question that leaves many feeling insecure and judgmental about themselves and others. This psychological effect causes some teens to want more friends, because the more friends you have the better right? This is not true at all. If people started to add others just for that sole purpose, then they would just end up hurting themselves and ruin the ideal that Facebook built. It creates insecurity and causes them to judge themselves.

Facebook does not only affect people that have “a lot” of friends, but those who do not. In some ways, the amount of friends that people have can cause others to judge you. For example, a person that has 48 friends might be judged as unpopular and weird. The service of uploading photos becomes a huge issue of being judged. People will always upload photos of themselves, and the fact that they are easily accessible makes people “vulnerable.” People can access them and the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” can come to haunt someone.

So what do you think of Facebook and the effect it can have on people? Do you believe that Facebook can hurt the well-being of people or is Facebook a positive factor in society overall? Share your answers and see what other people have to say about it.