Why are we Facebook - ing?

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)

What is the outcome ?

The positives

1. Facebook gave me a new idea
2. It kept me in the loop of friends
3. It promoted me/my blog or gave me an ego boost (read twitter and ego boost) so I did not have to go elsewhere
4. It helped me find my life partner
5. It kept me in touch with GF/BF
6. It informed me of the reunion party/ event/function
7. It reduced my TV watching time
8. It gave me access to new info through links shared
9. I get relaxed by playing games or using apps on facebook.

The not-so positives

1. I could have spent that time as a volunteer at the local NGO
2. I could have spent time with family or exercised
3. I could have focussed attention on the more important issues
4. 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

1. Are we spending our time on it judiciously
2. Is facebook really aligned with our goals and future plans
3. 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