Facebook

            I remember hearing about Facebook for the first time from my best friend’s older brother in 2005. At the time, he was attending the University of Florida and was therefore allowed to register for and use the site. When he explained that it was only available for college students, I put it out of my mind. A year or two later I created a MySpace page (that was obnoxious in its design and amount of stimuli) and forgot all about Facebook. I used Myspace fervently for a good amount of time but by the end of 2007, a lot of my friends stopped using theirs and switched over to Facebook. I finally caved in on March of 2008 and joined the social networking behemoth myself. Upon first using it, I loved it. The simple layout and the ability to find friends quickly, both made me love the site. After a few months of using Myspace and Facebook, I ended up deleting my Myspace page and never looking back.

            It is hard to say what the long term effects of the mass usage of Facebook and other social networking sites will be on our society. One thing we can already see happening is a decrease in attention span. Facebook, and other technological gadgets, mediums, and websites, have played a large role in making sure that people have the ability to be informed 24/7 about nearly any subject. With this comes a cultural shift in which people expect their new, entertainment, and social connections now. People are so invested with Facebook now that I don’t think it will lose any of its popularity in the foreseeable future. In fact, with the new changes that are being made to Facebook, I thinks it’s user base will only increase.

            I have a ton of family on Facebook. Four cousins, four aunts, two uncles, and my parents are all on Facebook.