Is facebook helping us ? Some profound doubts came to my mind while I was discussing about the "power" of facebook and twitter with a colleague. This is specifically with regard to our frequency of status updates, wall posts and group activity on facebook. When I "rationally" look into my facebook activity certain questions come up.
- Is Facebook taking too much of my time ?
- Is it diverting my attention from major issues concerning my career ?
- Is it a place to show off my creativity of status updates ?
- Is it a place to share good links I found on web ?
- Is it a place to see what "others" are doing ?
- Is it a place to display my ego ?
Every time I log on to the internet and green-on my name, I must be spending upto 5-10 mins on the light-blue web of facebook per session.
Now multiply this by approximately 5 (The no: of times I visit facebook daily). My simple analysis gives me a figure of approximately 6.2 days spent on facebook by a person like me every year. (Details at the end of this post)
Now multiply this by approximately 5 (The no: of times I visit facebook daily). My simple analysis gives me a figure of approximately 6.2 days spent on facebook by a person like me every year. (Details at the end of this post)
What is the outcome ?
The positives
- Facebook gave me a new idea
- It kept me in the loop of friends
- It promoted me/my blog or gave me an ego boost (read twitter and ego boost) so I did not have to go elsewhere
- It helped me find my life partner
- It kept me in touch with GF/BF
- It informed me of the reunion party/ event/function
- It reduced my TV watching time
- It gave me access to new info through links shared
- I get relaxed by playing games or using apps on facebook.
The not-so positives
- I could have spent that time as a volunteer at the local NGO
- I could have spent time with family or exercised
- I could have focussed attention on the more important issues
- I waste time playing games
I somehow feel that most of us don't know the exact reason for facebooking. It is addictive without doubt and a great concept. The question we probably need to ask ourselves is
- Are we spending our time on it judiciously
- Is facebook really aligned with our goals and future plans
- Where does it fit in ?
These 3 questions are tough and we may try to avoid it. I've been avoiding it till now. But the biggest and final question is, till how long ?
Analysis
Time Spent | No: of sessions | Probability | Time spent/day |
5 | 5 | 0.8 | 20 |
10 | 2 | 0.15 | 3 |
30 | 1 | 0.05 | 1.5 |
24.5 | |||
No: of days in a year | 365 | ||
Total time spent (Min) | 8942.5 | ||
Total time spent (Days) | 6.210069444 |