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Page 1 of 2 We all rely on it perhaps much more than we're willing to admit - how many souls here at Jacobs University has Facebook managed to devour?
So you’re hard at work on that paper that’s due in three hours. It’s five o’clock a.m., you’re on the last bit of your chocolate, you’ve rubbed your forehead almost raw, your hair looks like something crawled up into it and died, and perhaps the rest of you smells like it, too. After putting your fingers back into their places on your keyboard, you rack your brains for something to write. It’s time to go home, you think. I should be in bed. Why didn’t I write this paper earlier? But then you see it – that little icon at the bottom of your desktop, that beautiful little logo, that blissful little promise of a momentary nirvana of procrastination. You click it. Instantly (or perhaps not, with the internet provided here) your internet browser pops up. Now here is the moment of truth. You could either a) close the browser, go back to work, and finish the paper so that you have a couple hours of sleep, b) get some more snacks and cut off your connection from the internet, or c) log on to everybody’s favorite site. You know which one. Which to choose, which to choose? Facebook. You feel a certain satisfaction as you log on to that site. Email? Why, certainly. Password? Well, of course. Maybe I’ll even give you my soul as well. And then you’re in the procrastinator’s paradise. Facebook, for the one or two of you who do not know, is a “social networking” site founded by Harvard University student Mark Zuckerberg. Yes, I’m sorry, it’s another thing to blame on America. Let’s get to the facts, though; what better source than another great internet phenomenon, Wikipedia. It seems fitting; after all, “If Wikipedia Says It, It Must Be True” is claimed by several Facebook groups. So, according to Wikipedia, Facebook was founded on February 4, 2004, open to a few students on the Harvard Campus. Within two months, it expanded to all the Ivy League schools, and most college campuses were added soon thereafter. Based on recent estimates, Facebook has about 54 million users and is expected to grow by another 6 million by the end of the year. That’s almost the population of France (also, according to Wikipedia – approximately 61 million). As of September 2007, it is the 7th most visited site on the internet. There are even reports of it helping to solve crimes. So at least when you procrastinate, you know that you’re both not alone and helping to support a crime-fighting activity. So you go through to your profile. You can let everybody know what’s up. Your birthday, your relationship status, your favorite quotes – pretty much anything you would really want to let everyone in the world know except for the harmless stuff, like your hometown, your current residence, your contact information. Some of it’s actually quite inspiring. Like the quotes. I always love the quotes. One of my favorites: “Don’t let schooling interfere with your education. (Mark Twain)” Yeah, stick it to the man. You can be idealistic and rebellious while you procrastinate. Sometimes it will even help you to finish your paper. Granted, you might need more than just three hours, but create a group, have a catchy title like, “If 20 people join this group, I’ll strip in class tomorrow,” and then ask questions based on your topic. Chances are that you might get a few helpful responses. See? Facebook is educational as well. And if you need any information on any of your friends, then you’re in luck. You can find out anything you want to know. Forget actual human contact or merely talking to someone; that’s a thing of the past. We’re so much better connected to each other now in this modern age of computers, keyboards, and wall posts. Why would I ever need to hear another voice? I can even make a video now and post it on my friend’s wall. Oh, and what’s this nifty little feature? I see what one person wrote on another person’s wall? Well, don’t mind if I do. And then three hours later, you hurriedly snap off a few lines to conclude the paper, struggle with the printer for a few minutes, and rush straight to class. Walking in the door, you hand the paper to the professor, sit down, and you start complaining about how late you were up last night. Right. So this would have an ending to it, perhaps a moral, but I’ve got to go check some pictures, see what someone wrote, support crime fighting, get inspiration for my next paper, and visit the most time-warping internet phenomenon that is Facebook.
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