There are tons of articles about how IPhones(and all smartphones) and Facebook disconnect us from real human interaction. There are videos of over exaggeration of people on their phones at dinner, at parties and weddings instead of enjoying the moment there. I'm here to debate why Facebook and IPhones are great for society and why we are all on them in the first place. I'll try my best to be short and to the point but this is rant so bare with me.
Let's begin.
Communication. Being connected on Facebook and IPhones has us connected to the world. The information of the world is at our fingertips. How amazing is that? We can communicate with people instantly when we want to. If I am lost finding the location of an event, l can quickly go on my IPhone5 and log into Facebook and hit Events and find the address of the event and details. Problem solved instantly. If I'm in a loud club and it's too loud to talk on the phone to find a friend, I can simply send a text message along with a picture to show my friend where to find me. If I'm at the beach and 'Check in' on Facebook, a friend of mine I haven't seen in a while who is close around may message me asking me to meet up for a drink since he saw I was very close by. If my girlfriend wants a lot of instant, quick responses if a dress looks good or not, she can post a picture and question on Facebook and have a lot of detailed responses within the minute. We are connected to the world and can easily communicate with everyone in an instant. This makes life much easier is so many ways that I could write an article on this section alone.
Self control or the lack of is the reason why people are on Facebook and their IPhones all the time. One writer wrote he had to get rid of his IPhone because he would be on it at weddings, funerals, business meetings, church and all these inappropriate times. He wasn't in touch with God and his family as much as he use to be with his IPhone so he had to get some junk phone so he wouldn't be checking Facebook, sports scores, email and more. This is due to his fault, his lack of self control. It is not the IPhones fault. But his article was written on how the IPhone is bad. Reading his article reminded me why I hate people.
If you are studying for college finals, you do not need to deactivate Facebook. Just don't log in. It's that simple. If you are on a date, a business meeting, wedding wherever and your phone chimes in that you got a text message - just don't check it if it would be inappropriate to do so. |
If you are at a concert, you do not need to record every single performance. It's fine to record a little bit and share it with your friends. As long as you are enjoying the show itself. Take some pics here and there, a 20 second video should be enough to show your friends what the environment is like and then put your phone away.
By having an IPhone and Facebook, you will learn self control if you need to. By getting rid of it all together does not help you learn self control. It just means you cannot handle it. Sometimes my girlfriend will be on her IPhone checking Instagram for a while and then ask me what happened on the movie we are watching. This is when I take her IPhone and throw it on the floor out of reach to her. After a while, she doesn't check Instagram when we watch movies.
Sharing thoughts, ideas, pictures, videos, articles. It's fun, it's interesting and we all do it. We are social. One writer asked 'WHY do I wanna share this lil nugget? WHO cares about what I share? To WHOM do I want it to go out? Does it ADD VALUE to the experience?' I'm here to answer that.
The WHY is for hundreds of reason. If I just got hired at my dream job, I'm going to share this with my friends through Facebook. I'm happy and proud of myself and I want the world to know. Same with if I just got engaged with the love of my life. I bought a new home or car. It's my son's first time going out on Halloween. Why do I share this? Why not? I'm happy and I want to show my friends and my true friends will be happy for me. Life can get busy and sometimes you may lose touch with some of your friends from long hours of work and all of life's obstacles. Facebook is an easier way to keep in touch with old high school friends, old college friends, friends who moved away for their career and people overseas. It's nice to still be able to talk to my friends who are stationed in Afghanistan and it's good for them to be able to still be connected to home too. My friends share pictures of things they seen in other countries, their thoughts on a highly debatable subject(which usually leads to a fun online debate on the post), news in their life, videos they found hilarious that think may make others laugh.
Who cares about what I share? I care, even though in this case, it made me angry. I found the article on Facebook when a friend posted it and I cared to read it. I don't agree with it but I cared to read it. When my friend posts a tragedy in his family just occurred, I care to know about it. I care to know about Surprise birthday plans, if my friends will be buying the Xbox One or PS4, if they got the job, if they are going to school abroad or staying in state. I care because I care about my friends. And when I share something, they care as well.
To whom do I want it to go out? Well first off you should be only adding people on your Facebook who you don't mind having them see what is posted on your page. There are many ways to block certain people from pictures if your friend tags you in a picture of you going wild at a house party and your priest is Facebook friends with you. Its probably just a good idea not to be Facebook friends with your priest in the first place. Priest, Mom, Professors, Boss. Unless you have a really innocent Facebook or actually lead a really innocent life, you should just not add them in the first place.
Lastly 'Does it ADD VALUE to the experience?' Does it have to? If I write on a Facebook Status 'I really want to eat cinnamon toast crunch', l can. Does it need to have some purpose? No. l thought I'd share and maybe some friends will comment on how they love cinnamon toast crunch or other random things and all of it was pointless. The point? The point is there doesn't need to be a point. You can do whatever you want. It's your Facebook. If you wanna share a picture of a poop you just took, do it. Does it add value to experience? No but it's kinda funny.
Emergencies happen. If you are disconnected from the world, you may be out of luck. The more connected you are and easier to reach. This makes a higher chance of someone reaching you or you reaching someone else so your day isn't ruined. If you have a Facebook, people can get a hold of you that way. If you have your number listed, even better for emergencies. Some may respond 'Eww but then the creepers may call you'. Hang up. You shouldn't be accepting them on Facebook in the first place. You leave them in Friend Request limbo.
As I mentioned before, you could be lost finding an event's location but then quickly log into Facebook and read the details and address of the event. You could even message the person who created the event or write on the event page saying you need help and someone will respond to help you.
A few years back(not trying to promote myself as some saint hero story) I found a hand purse at the door way of a bar. I looked inside and found her ID and then found her Facebook using my IPhone and sent a message to her not to cancel all her credit cards and such. Within the hour, she messaged me back asking where I was and I was able to return her hand purse. Now that she had her purse back along with her ID, she decided to go back out and enjoy the Friday night. She was pretty cute and my motive was to hopefully party with her so it wasn't pure benevolence.
Once a friend got lost in Atlantic City, NJ somewhere outside of the club we were inside of. We had a huge hotel suite but only some of us had the key. To go inside the elevator area, you needed to present a key. She asked strangers if she could borrow their phone and she logged into Facebook and wrote on another friend's Facebook 'Check in' where she was and we were able to find her. Sorry to blow up your spot Sam but it's a funny picture.
Took us a little bit haha but we found Sam. I always laugh when looking at these pictures because these girls are pure chaos every time we go out. Laughing at old pictures leads to my next topic.
There is a sad video right now being posted all over the internet of a boy who did something nice to a US Soldier because his father was a soldier who died just a few weeks after him being born. He only has a few photos of what his father looked like. It'd be nice if there were videos of his father so he could get a much better idea of what his father was like and it's sad he only has a faint idea of who his father was.
To answer the question above of the writer who asks why should we share things on Facebook - it's just plain fun to look back. Your friends will laugh with you for the ridiculous things you use to wear and the places you use to go. Does it add value to the experience? No. But does everything you do in life need to 'Add Value' to anything? There's a reason #tbt(throwback thursday) is so popular on Instagram and Facebook. Its fun.
Events are frequent. It feels like every weekend is someone's birthday somewhere. Right now me and another friend are setting up a close friend's surprise birthday because the birthday guy never knows what to do for his birthday every year. We made the event page and added everyone we could think of to the event. We looked at the birthday guy's facebook and made sure to add other friends of his that we may have forgotten and then after the page was done, I sent out personal messages to everyone just to make sure they have seen the page to know about the surprise birthday and the details. Thanks to Facebook, I was able to reach everyone to come.
Superbowl parties, video game competitions, baby showers whatever the event is, it's easier on the event planner to make a Facebook Event page and add everyone to it. They have it written in plain text when where why and all the details and you can re-look at it at ease by simply clicking on 'Events' in your facebook. It organizes your plans that you are invited to and you have it at your finger tips if you forget. If April you have two birthdays, a dance competition and a going away party - you may not remember all the details for all the events. Thank you Facebook for having it clean and organized.
Business is important. Missing one phone call, one text, one email could be crucial. Even other writers agree, for business Facebook is understandable and I don't think I need to explain why having an IPhone or any smartphone is significant for business as well but incase you are wondering why, I'll explain.
I am a real estate agent full time.
My phone makes calls. It also send texts and picture texts. I can email. I can also forward documents through email. I can even scan a document with an app on my phone and have it emailed. I can bring up the internet for information rather than slugging around papers. It's quite amazing.
My phone sits by me when I sleep so I don't miss a call as a client may call me at 7am asking if I am free to see an amazing home at 1pm. When I'm at a barbeque, I can quickly take care of emails instead of going home early or making my clients wait. You may ask "But don't you want to leave your phone in the car so you don't have to work while you're at the barbeque?" and yes, there are times when I will be enjoying myself with friends and something work related will come through my phone either email or call and I will be interrupted from my friends for a while but that's just part of this career choice. I rather have my work done rather than have upset clients. Simply responsibility.
Facebook is obviously for advertisement. The majority of my clients are my friends because they have seen a post I shared on Facebook of a home closing, pictures of something I thought was amazing in a home or simply a post stating that I'm a real estate agent if anyone is looking. Thanks to Facebook, I have received plenty of clients that I do not need to depend on finding clients through open houses and referrals.
We are highly connected and that is an amazing thing. Disconnecting yourself is only taking something great away from yourself. Yes the world is suppose to be enjoyed live, not through an IPhone and Facebook pictures but having an IPhone and Facebook doesn't lessen the real world in any way unless you choose to do so. One writer said ''...taking notice of everything else but my phone. Actually feeling the world around me, how clear the sky is, how sunny it feels, how cooling the breeze is on a warm day." Let's think about how ridiculous she must be to be unable to enjoy the world around her if she has a IPhone on her person. The IPhone and Facebook is not crack cocaine. Keep your Facebook activated. You can still enjoy the world and have a phone in your pocket. It'll make your life more enjoyable to be connected.
Bet you found this article from Facebook.
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