Facebook- is it still my friend?

There's something that doesn't fit quite right with me about the whole Facebook's $104 billion flotation, its not just the fact that it will make billionaires out of its creators, the fact that Bono alone will earn up to $900 million is a bit hard to take, all on the backs of people updating their entire lives onto the worlds largest social network site, and don't get me started on the adverts that I don't think anyone ever clicks into. But my problems with Facebook now run a little bit deeper.

Now don't get me wrong I have a Facebook account and unwillingly check it everyday, and the only reason that's stopping me from deleting it is because the University class I am in have a group where throughout the year we have informed each other of when deadlines are due and general study stuff. But that aside Facebook in my opinion is just losing its novelty, where at first it was an innovative and a much more user friendly and sophisticated version of Myspace, now its boring and has got to the stage where it treats its users like products.

As a journalist student what I really like about Twitter is that its not about 'me' its about 'us', its much more about information which is why so many news affiliations find it effective, another of its advantages it requites little effort to use, I use it to post my blogs as well as news gathering. To me it's an extension of the public sphere, it can empower people. Now of course there are a lot of trolls on Twitter and others who use it to show off, much in the same way that people use Facebook to whinge about the every single moment of their life, and others who upload photos of their entire life. Other random irritations include the monumental amount of game requests I get from people who constantly play Farmville and The Sims, I used to play poker quite a bit until I realized how much time suckage it really is.

But underneath facade, when you really think about it the idea of Facebook is a false illusion, whilst it may bring people closer and consistently in reach of one another it also takes away the special qualities of meeting new people and then moving on with your life, in some parts of your life the people who you meet for the briefest moments give you the best experiences and memories. Of course you have the option of picking your friends on Facebook as you do in life, but most people do not.

The same can be said for the photos that users add onto their profile, there really is nothing worse than seeing the latest photo of someones six pack (not that I'm jealous or anything), the dinner they are eating or the latest nail varnish they are using, the list is much bigger but I won't bore you. But the most disheartening thing about uploading meaningful images onto Facebook is the fact that they don't belong there, they belong in a photo album, moments such as weddings, site seeing holidays, special occasions, etc. i'm not saying that sharing is a bad thing, but shouldn't these things be sacred and personal, special memories that you can physically hold in your hand and put in a frame, they should not be shared among a bunch of virtual strangers to peer at.

I admit I am a hypocrite, I have uploaded my New York photos onto Facebook but I would never do so again. But things like Facebook underlines the narcissistic way in which consumer technology is taking over every component of society, as once unnecessary things have gradually become our necessities, and the confusion between pleasure and happiness continues to grow.