The phases of Facebook

Monday, April 2, 2007

Skepticism
At first you're against joining another one of these online communities. Knowing that there have been many similar sites that have come by before: Friendster, MySpace, etc. You resisted joining or might have joined and realized they were just hype. So this time, you're NOT going to join.

Surrender
So you finally give in and join Facebook. Every detail that you fill out in the registration process has you doubtful but you go ahead with it anyway. Now you're ready to add friends.

Surprise
You are shocked by who you find on Facebook. Wow. This is kinda neat!

Excitement
Look at all the people you're catching up with! Friends from highschool, people you haven't seen in decades, old loves, and people you've lost touch with over the years. It's so interesting to see what everyone's been up to.

Addiction
You search and read and search and read. It's amazing to read about what people have been up to. So, what has so and so accomplished in life? Interesting. Kids, married life, career, wow. Holy less than six degrees of separation!! It's a small world.

Facebook Anonymous
You know you're addicted. Work should ban this site. People are on the site when they should be working, including you. You spend hours looking at people's profiles. So addictive.

Reality
After some messaging back and forth, you realize you don't have much in common with most of the people you have just got in touch with. You've maintained ties with those that you've been close to and have no need for Facebook to keep in touch with them. You might remain in contact with one or two that you just reconnected with but the reality is people lose touch for a reason. The things that kept you close before are not enough; your goals and values in life either grow or remain stagnant and that drives you in different directions.

Loathing
(I'm at this point.) I cannot stand the site. Yes it's interesting and fun and it's a great way to reconnect but if you're friends already, why the need to use the site for communication. Why not call or use regular email? Why do couples have to write on one another's wall? "Thank you honey. You're so awesome. I love you." Why not just tell them face-to-face or over the phone?

I can't seem to put my finger on an exact reason why but I really do not like the site anymore. Maybe it's the mass appeal and the mask that some people put on. Mainly, I don't like the pretension of some and they get away with it due to the very nature of an online community.

Updated: April 3rd 2007
Denouement
I no longer hold any feelings toward the site; I am impartial. I think it's great for getting in touch with people and though some may use it to boost their sense of self, it doesn't bother me anymore. It is what it is; just another Web 2.0 community.