Earlier this year, Forbes published an article titled "Facebook Was The One Network People Used Less In 2014." In the article, author Parmy Olson noted a worldwide decline in Facebook usage and observed that "Facebook has become more of a passive hub for underlying social connections than a place to actively share our thoughts…(people) often only check in for short periods anyway, leaving little time to do more than browse and maybe ‘like’ a photo or two."
If you pay attention to how you or your friends and family use social media, odds are you’ve observed this as well. Facebook is just something we "do" now. In our classrooms, our offices and even our cars, Facebook has evolved — or devolved, depending on your take on the situation — into a mindless, drone-like activity. We’ve all witnessed people scroll through Facebook for minutes at a time without actually sharing or posting anything, instead content to look at identical pictures of orange-and-blue-clad classmates at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on game day.
Is this a healthy, productive use of our time? Probably not. Do we at the Alligator have a preferable, more useful alternative? Not really.
For better or for worse, most who would like to quit Facebook can’t at this point — it’s become too pervasive. For students involved in extracurricular activities, Facebook is all but a must-have tool; getting updates on meetings, responsibilities and constantly changing information are but a few of the benefits of joining a group on Facebook. To quit Facebook is to remove your eyes and ears from your group efforts.
So what is the solution to mindless Facebook surfing? At the risk of appearing corny, mindfulness. Given how easy it is to browse Facebook, it’s not all that far-fetched to assume many of us don’t even realize we’re doing it sometimes. Pausing to take in your surroundings has long been recommended as an effective meditative tool. Now that we have entertainment devices in our pockets that can be used at a moment’s notice, it is worth considering perhaps we don’t need to be entertained at every single period of boredom that may arise. Being aware of the problem is the first step to rectifying it.
Successfully navigating Facebook is a genuinely tough proposition. As convenient as it is, its usefulness is dwarfed in comparison to the ease with which one can get lost in it when bored or procrastinating. The lack of engagement discussed in Olson’s article is a double-edged sword: On the one hand, using Facebook for less time ostensibly means people are doing something other than using Facebook, which is itself a positive. On the other hand, the time spent on Facebook consists of scrolling through and liking a picture or two, accomplishing nothing more than firing off neurons and stimulating vaguely understood pleasure centers in our heads. If we hope to be better, productive individuals in the Internet age, managing our Facebook usage is a crucial step.
