Facebook addiction: A Survivor’s Tale Part 2

I started using Facebook when I moved home, and missed the family and friends. I thought Facebook was a pretty easy way of keeping in touch, as everyone else was talking about it and already seemed to be on the site. With Facebook’s features, it was so easy to find people. I could think of a name, type it in, and there would suddenly be a familiar looking face – easy! It was beautiful. Trawling memories, finding that people who lived on only in the mind, were still real, somewhere. And they would find me too. Every time I logged on, it seemed that someone had thought of me from way back, and looked for me on the site. Little did I know that these moments of bliss were adding up to a Facebook addiction.

Catching up with someone you haven’t spoken to in a very long time can be the most time-consuming experience. A typical conversation with a new Facebook friend would go something like:
Friend: How have you been? It’s been such a very long time since we last spoke. Have you kept in touch with people from school?
Me: Yeah it’s been a long time! So nice to hear from you. What’s been happening with you?
Friend: Things are going great, I’ve moved to (a certain country) and am working for a (a certain company), still (doing the same thing as always).

And so on. Over time the conversation would evolve, with the basic facts established, we would share quick chats about people we know in common, events in our lives and so on. The most addictive thing about Facebook is just how simple it is to use. You can use Facebook anywhere in the world, which just doesn’t help when you’re trying to get work done. But unfortunately, my tryst with Facebook was just beginning and I was going to discover just how much of an impact it would have in my life.

The Facebook friendships kept pouring in. I knew I should be selective about whom I added to my profile, but I was like, what the heck, maybe it would be an interesting way to meet new people. So I’d accept friendship requests. It was weird. As soon as I accepted these friendship requests, they probably looked at my profile. But they never said anything, these strangers. It was for the best though, because something else was fuelling my Facebook addiction at this point.