Facebook: is it a blessing or a curse?

We are currently in what has become known as the digital age. This means that we have grown up with rapidly improving technology and also that we are more and more easily able to obtain and share knowledge. First and foremost one may arguably say that the internet is the main service provider of people all around the globe being able to share information, photos, stories or anything of the sort. Who nowadays has not yet heard of the multitude of internet sites (such as facebook, myspace or twitter for example) where people have personal accounts and are able to share with whomever they please almost whatever they please. There are probably only a very select number of people who have not yet heard of facebook and what it can do. There are a multitude of positive effects facebook can have but also equally important negative aspects which cannot be neglected. Facebook is a platform for people and companies to get out information about them and to get information about others. Nowadays, it is not only for individuals to stay in contact, many companies and employers use facebook as a way to get out knowledge about what they do. So much so that job opportunities are often posted on facebook and people looking for work do not have to do more than log on and see what they find. Of course, there is also the aspect of advertisement. For producers, there are not many better ways to advertise their products and services since the system of facebook is a circulating one. This means, if someone ‘likes’ something, the chances of seeing it increase and so forth, which is an incredibly efficient way to advertise.
Possibly the most obvious argument for the positive aspects of facebook is the ease of access. This readily allows for many people all over the world to stay in contact with one another. It happens ever so often that one stumbles upon a long lost friend and one regains contact through facebook. Instead of the time consuming effort of sending photos through mail or making a possibly expensive phone call to contact someone across the world, one can just simply log on to facebook and see what has occurred or contact whoever one wishes to contact.
However, this ability to see what people are doing all of the time often leads to a kind of addiction. Some people need to know what other people are doing all of the time and cannot but go a few hours without checking what has happened and that is a severely negative aspect. It has already been established that surfing on the internet may easily become addictive but now, with so many more options with what to do it is even worse. Facebook is a way for many people to escape, to not have to think about oneself and to allow oneself to be absorbed into cyberspace and the cyber people around. The negative aspects of overusing the internet bring with it both physical and mental consequences. Physically, it brings about all the outcomes any overuse of the internet bring froth such as back problems, due to too much sitting; eye maladies, as a result of the screen permanently being in front of someone; and wrist or finger strain.
Mentally, facebook has the capability of making people, especially teenagers, feel insecure about oneself. Comparisons are inevitable with the constant flow of pictures one is exposed to. No matter how edited they are or not, seeing someone else look better, do something more exciting, or wearing better clothes even lowers the self esteem of many. It is said that numerous people who spend too much time on facebook become narcissists. According to the oxford dictionary, narcissism is explained as someone’s “excessive interest in or admiration of oneself and one’s physical appearance” (oxford web). Easy to see how facebook would bring about such behavior. Also, with increasing online interactions, social skills rapidly deteriorate leaving people incapable of having conversations without a screen separating them.
Not only that, cyber bullying has become much simpler than it once was. With facebook, it is easy for a person or a group of people to anonymously, or not, bully another user. Not so rarely does one hear in the news that yet another child was cyber bullied. According to statistics, victims of cyber bullying (especially as teenagers) are more likely to contemplate or attempt to commit suicide. These are statistics that cannot be ignored. On the same front, the openness of facebook also gives online predators increased opportunities. One can never be completely sure about who the person behind the profile is and what his or her intentions are. Many people post rather revealing pictures about themselves and they do not take into consideration that it is a quasi open site and random people may see those pictures. Since one cannot be sure, online safety and raising awareness about these issues is an essential job for schools, parents, and the community.
It is difficult to say whether facebook and other similar sites can be counted more as a curse or a blessing. The important thing, as with most everything, is that it is used correctly and it is not abused. People should be made aware of the many dangers that may lurk behind the screen and how to protect themselves. However, facebook has become an integrated part in the lives of many people and the advantages it brings with it cannot be ignored. People from all over the world can come together, make friends and interact with one another effortlessly and quickly which is a great help to many people. All in all, one must learn to set and respect boundaries and to make sure that one only gives out information one is willing to. If that is done properly, facebook is a great asset to our time.