Since its launch in 2004, Facebook has quickly become the most popular social networking site on the web. As it stands, approximately 83% of 16-24 years old in Britain are now regular users and with the site offering everything which is appealing to a young person; constant access to friends, infinite ways of avoiding studying and an audience to project thoughts and opinions, it is easy to see why the website is so popular.
For students, Facebook is an essential tool when it comes to socialising. The concept of Facebook is, without a doubt, fantastic. It’s convenient and allows us to make more friends than ever and organise absolutely anything with a simple click of a mouse.
Everything, nowadays, seems to be planned through the site. Imagine freshers’ week without Facebook. It would be impossible to find out about everything that is on offer, we wouldn’t be able to show everyone what a great time we’re having and most importantly, how on earth would we remember the names of everyone we’ve met?
Unfortunately, problems have already arisen since birth over half a decade ago. Like Edward Cullen’s ‘own personal brand of heroin,’ Facebook is addictive, and the website has opened new doors for the procrastinators, crazy exes and voyeurs among us.
There is one group in particular which has sprung up since the creation of Facebook. Shunning the oversized brown coat, large newspaper and false moustache, a new generation of Facebook stalkers has emerged. These people will spend any spare hours they have trawling through people’s profiles.
Most worrying is Facebook’s effect on studying. More often than not you’ll find the website open alongside the essay which is due in the next morning. This constant distraction surely must have some negative effect on the quality of work. What’s worse is the fact there are people who sit in the library on Facebook hogging the computers and preventing the people who actually need to use them for work from doing so.
It has come to the stage where there is barely a conversation which doesn’t involve Facebook anymore and it seems impossible to escape this social phenomenon.
However, with so many of us spending much more than the intended five minutes to check new notifications, it’s time to ask ourselves, do we really want to be spending so much time during ‘the best years of our lives’ sat inside on Facebook or do you want to take full advantage of the university experience and make your own memories rather that investigating others?
