facebooked

I decided to deactivate my facebook account. Yes, you can cuss at me for being stupid as hell for doing so. I did that for me to see how life would be without being too connected. I did that to prove a point. 

Your Facebook has been deactivated! O_O

Why do we have these social networking sites? Are you even aware that there are 188 sites for different categories: online gaming, travel, education, books, music, and business? The earliest documented social networking site started at 1995 thru Classmates.com (For the full list click here) There is a movie out of it: click here.

Top 25 Social Networks

Here are some of the reasons I gathered for having networking sites:

* connect people from all parts of the globe

* is a constant medium in these changing times: losing of phones and contacts retrieving thru facebook

* real-time news feeds

* stalking

These networking sites added other plug-ins and applications to keep members busy and to keep them on logging in frequently like games and quizes. they also enabled a chatbox.

I got this comment from Facebook Blog and I find this is one of the common reasons why some members would make new accounts. This is just outright funny, you can just click on Ignore/Deny if you don't know the people who are trying to add you up.

Friends Overload!

I was officially inactive of my account for 4 days and I learned a lot from the experience. Here are my thoughts:

• I understand the need errr if that’s how it should be termed: the need for these sites. The need to communicate, to stay connected, to be updated. I remember we never had these sites before and we never had a problem with communication: there was the telephone and the telebabad sessions or the morning til next day chikahan with friends or even the snail mail was a thrill. A heartfelt letter is better read from yer mailbox than from wallposts.
• There is a fine line between staying connected and stalking. Some use these sites to frequently visit their ex-es or those they always wanted to have. Please have the guts to talk to the person in public.
• People rely on it too much. Where is the joy of talking in person nowadays? Do we need to poke each other all the time to compensate for lost times? I don’t think so.
• We don’t need to be a hypocrite. We don’t need to be friends with people we hate. We have the option to deny their requests. I don’t see any reason why I need to keep 500 friends when in fact the real friends I know are just around 189. Keep friends that you really know.
• We talk too much and the need to say everything is so tempting. We don’t need to cuss and bash people. We forget to talk with our mouths and use our hands to talk instead. We forget that the main goal of these is to keep us connected not drive us further apart.
• Be responsible on what you post. Photos, images and even notes. You are your profile. What you do online reflects how you are or how you wanted yourself to be.
• Poking has become the new handshake.
• The developers made applications to keep you logged in and keep you come back for more. Farms to be harvested, restaurants needed cleaning up, mana refill: These games are those applications, fun and I think a marketing strategy.
• Evaluate your social networking account and postings—how do you feel about your employers seeing what you have posted? How about your parents or grandparents?
• Do not post private information, including your cell phone number, home address, class schedule, social plans, etc. unless you are prepared for anyone to find you/track you down, any time of the day or night. Do not post anything that might be embarrasing to you in a potential employment situation. People have been denied work because of information found on social networking sites.

They say that these sites make us connected with people from different parts of the globe, we can even relinquish old ties, some people use these to make their products known and of course the opportunity to create a positive self-image. Facebook or no facebook the world still spins on its axis, there is still no cure for AIDS and the sun would one day lose its brightness.

4 days of no facebook was freedom. It was exhilarating to talk to people in real time, to touch them and pat their backs when they cry. I miss those days. We can be connected in other ways, snail mail, email or even the old school call from your phone. We focus too much on our status messages that we forget to smell the flowers or the sound of the rain. I don’t think poking in facebook is enough to keep me going. Id like to have a real poke in the tummy than these online poking, it losses all the fun in poking. I am back because I can. Yes, call me hypocrite but I never said that I will never be back.