5 ways Facebook changed us, for better and worse
(Updated by Endah)
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It's been 10 years of change for
Facebook, the social network founded February 4, 2004, by Mark
Zuckerberg, right, Dustin Moskovitz and three other classmates in a
Harvard dorm room. From its awkward beginnings to an international
phenomenon with a billion users, here's a look at the many faces of
Facebook.
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A decade of Facebook changes
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Facebook turns 10 next week and has undeniably changed how many of us live
- For many of those changes, there are positive and negative sides
- In the Facebook age, there's rarely such thing as a long-lost friend
- But some folks still haven't figured out etiquette of social sharing
Whether it was an
inspired vision, deft execution, a bit of dumb luck or a combination of
all three, Mark Zuckerberg's social juggernaut has ingrained itself into
the daily lives of digital-age users in a way that forebears like
MySpace and contemporaries like Twitter could only imagine.
Which is not to say it's
all "likes" and "shares" and happy kid pics. As with any new (or newly
discovered) technology, the impact of the end product is largely in the
hands of the user. We are, after all, only human -- with all the joy and
sadness, decency and ugliness that that entails.
So here, as Facebook
turns 10 on Tuesday, is a look back at five ways the social network has
changed us -- for better and for worse.
Share! Share! Share!
The good: Wedding
announcements? Thing of the past. Birth announcement? Just slap an
Instagram shot of that bouncing baby boy or girl on your timeline.
Dating? Graduated? Bought a house? Got a puppy? Same deal.
We take it for granted
now, but the ability to share major events with all the people closest
to you with a single click of the mouse is unprecedented.
There were the Myspaces of the world before Facebook. But mom, your second cousin and Aunt Jenny weren't on them.
And it's not just the
good stuff, either. Changing that relationship status to "single" can
save you from those awkward "How's Joey doing? You two are so cute
together!" conversations.
The bad: Overshare! Overshare! Overshare!
Seriously. Ten years in, some folks haven't figured out what everyone on their friends list wants, or needs, to know.
OK, sometimes those pictures of your dinner look delicious. Sometimes.
But the detailed updates
on your mundane day are mind-numbing and the play-by-play of your
3-year-old's potty training is just -- too much.
We all want to know you got a wedding ring. The fact that you just polished the one you've had for 14 years? Not so much.
The past is not really past
The good: When a site has 1.2 billion users
(OK, we all know some of those are multiple or abandoned accounts, so
let's say at least a cool billion) it's a pretty amazing database of the
world's Web-enabled population.
That means your odds of finding just about anybody are a heck of a lot better than they were 10 years ago.
There have been the remarkable tales, like the woman who -- after years of failed efforts -- reunited after 44 years with her birth mother. How long did it take on Facebook? Two days.
For most of us, it's
less dramatic than that. Childhood friends who moved long ago, college
roommates who drifted away, even former teachers who served as
inspirations are now but a quick search away. There's no doubt we have
friends because of Facebook that we wouldn't have otherwise.
The bad: Sometimes, drifting apart isn't a bad thing.
Yes, your old high-school classmates got annoying and your cousin's politics disgust you. But we're not talking about that.
We're talking about exes. And past flirtations. And cheating.
Nostalgia is part of
life. But, with Facebook, getting nostalgic about an old crush or flame
could lead to a late-night Facebook message. Or, you know, a poke.
"I see Facebook issues breaking up marriages all the time," Gary Traystman, a divorce attorney in New London, Connecticut, told the Wall Street Journal.
More than 80% of U.S.
divorce attorneys say they've seen an increase in cases involving social
media, according to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and
one-third of all divorce filings last year contained the word Facebook,
according to a survey by Divorce Online.
Temptation is always out there. But with Facebook, it can be a little too convenient.
It makes you happy
The good: In 2009, a survey of 2,600 college students
by researchers at the University of Texas showed that those who were
the heaviest users of Facebook were the most satisfied with their lives.
They also were more likely to be engaged socially and politically.
More recently, a University of Wisconsin study
showed that, after five minutes of looking at their own shiny Facebook
profiles, users experienced a significant boost in self-esteem. A 2011 Cornell University study delivered similar results.
"For many people,
there's an automatic assumption that the Internet is bad," associate
professor Jeffrey Hancock said at the time. "This is one of the first
studies to show that there's a psychological benefit of Facebook."
The bad: Or maybe it makes you unhappy.
Other studies have looked at aspects of Facebook use and the results have been less encouraging.
Last year, a University
of Michigan researcher found that looking at posts by Facebook friends
-- you know, the photos of smiling kids on vacation in the Caribbean or
announcements about promotions, engagements and awesome nights on the
town -- can make us feel sadder about our own humdrum lives.
"On the surface, Facebook provides an invaluable resource for fulfilling the basic human need for social connection," the study reads. "Rather than enhancing well-being, however, these findings suggest that Facebook may undermine it."
As with many things,
your mileage may very. But what's clear is that Facebook has become such
a part of our lives that it tweaks our emotions, for better or worse.
Every day is a reunion
The good:
Reuniting with classmates from high school or college has never been
easier. Pre-Facebook, a class reunion committee looking to celebrate
five, 10 or 20 years post-diploma faced a thankless task.
"Where does Jennifer live these days?" "Who has Steven's phone number?" "Do you know Wanda's married name?"
Now? One Facebook event invitation and you can focus on booking the best '80s cover band available.
The bad: If every day is a reunion, why have a reunion?
Actually reuniting with
old classmates is losing some of its appeal when we know the names of
the former theater club president's three kids and which character from
"The Hunger Games" she'd be.
Timothy Davis, co-founder of reunion website Classreport.com, told the Baltimore Sun that he has noticed a drop-off in the number of reunions in recent years, particularly among folks in their mid- to late 20s.
"People I haven't talked
to in years will see my wedding pictures on Facebook, then I'll see
them in person and we won't say one word to each other ...," Rebecca
Miller, a 23-year-old whose five-year reunion fizzled to a small party
at the class president's house, told the paper. "Why go to a high school
reunion when you're going to stand around and go, 'So, how did that
doctor's appointment go yesterday?'"
Privacy
The good: For those willing to find and use them, Facebook provides tools that let you select who sees what.
So, while grandma is
welcome to look at those pics of the kids playing in the snow, she might
not need to be privy to your strongly worded rant about the cable guy
who is two days late. You can direct that one instead to buddies with a
proper appreciation for your expansive vocabulary.
Rival Twitter is
designed by default to be a public forum, where you broadcast your
140-character pearls of wisdom to the world. Facebook allows that, too,
but is more geared toward limiting your thoughts to certain family and
friends.
The bad: Well, you know.
Security breaches have
been a reality of many websites' growth. But as its user base grew
dramatically, Facebook's problems (like the time CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg got his own page hacked) played out in front of a massive, and nervous, audience.
While Facebook has privacy settings that let users protect information, some privacy advocates say the network doesn't make them easy enough to find and use. (Facebook has worked to ease those concerns, especially for younger users).
At the end of the day,
Facebook benefits when you decide to share more openly. The details
about your life that you share on Facebook are rounded up and compiled
into a profile of you that helps advertisers target you with things they
think you'll like.
So, when you announced
your pregnancy and were, soon after, bombarded with Facebook ads for a
bunch of baby stuff? That was no coincidence.
To be clear, Facebook is
not handing advertisers information about you personally. But,
somewhere, there exists a nameless profile of a user with your hometown,
gender, age and likes and dislikes, just waiting to be used for
marketing purposes.
That, in a nutshell, is
the entry fee to use this remarkable social tool. Yes, Facebook has
changed the way we communicate. Whether it is truly cost-free remains
another question.
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