Wednesday, October 6, 2010

WEEK 10 REFLECTION: Rachel Benn

Dangerously Obsessed?? : Defriend FACEBOOK

Hafner Katie, (December 20, 2009), “To Deal With Obsession, Some Defriend Facebook” The New York Times (December 20, 2009), p.1-2 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/21/technology/internet/21facebook.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=facebook%20addiction&st=Search (accessed 4/10/10).

The article “To Deal With Obsession, Some Defriend Facebook” by Katie Hafner, discusses the notion of ‘Facebook addiction’. I found this article to be of relevance to the unit, as it relates to the notions of ‘identity, freedom and friends on the net’. As the article was composed at the end of 2009, and is still relevant to our current predicaments regarding the internet, it is a legitimate source to utilise when analysing social networks and the rapidly expanding use of the internet. Hafner introduces the “popular networking site” (Hafner, 2009, p.1) by stating that “350 million members word wide...spend 10 billion minutes there every day” (Hafner, 2009, p.1). From the onset, the reader is probed to think: if this isn’t obsession...what is?? Hafner introduces the reader to two teenage girls, who among many other teenagers have decided to “resist the lure of the login” and deactivate their Facebook accounts.

This is not a scholarly article, yet it is legitimate, as it is an article from the New York Times. In addition to this, the article’s reference to high profile people and specialists attach a sense of validity to it. Psychologyst, Dr Kimberly Young equates Facebook to an addiction, stating that “it is hard to wean yourself off” (Hafner, 2009, p.2) it. The head of San Francisco University, Dr Michael Diamonti expands on the addictive nature of Facebook, and supports the need for “kids to...exercise some control over their use of Facebook” (Hafner, 2009, p.2).

Although the article refers to high profile sources, the writing style is a combination of fact and opinion, incorporating both a scholarly and emotive tone. The article is successful in evoking the reader to scrutinize their own Facebook use, and that ultimately, people need return to enjoying “a social life lived largely offline” (Hafner, 2009, p.2).

According to Danielle Pope in her article Potential Facebook Addiction, here are a few questions to assess the scale of your addiction:
1) Are personal relationships taking a back seat to Facebook?
2) Do you think about Facebook even when you’re offline?
3) Do you stay on Facebook longer than intended?
4) Have you ever concealed Facebook use?
If you answered YES to any, you may be a borderline addict – no joke!!

No comments:

Post a Comment