25 Comments »Are you addicted to Facebook? I know I am. It starts of with a simple exploration of your friends on the site and suddently you are logging on 10 times a day to see if any of your friends have made updates to their profile, changed their relationship status or have posted new videos or articles. Suddnely you are glued to your computer monitor and the only thing on the screen is Facebook. So maybe your addiction isn’t that bad but apparently enough people are addicted that wikiHow has published an article entitled “How to Quite Facebook.” WikiHow suggests a 6-step solution:
- Admit you have a problem - This sounds like the first step to any other addiction. WikiHow suggests that you ask yourself “What did I just accomplish by checking Facebook?” Ha! If only I had that much self-control over my Facebook addiction. Well, at least I admit to it!
- Define your goals on Facebook - Hmm … I never really had any goals with Facebook. Although maybe my goal should be to reach 5,000 friends. That surely would get me to login more frequently. WikiHow suggests just logging in to check on friends’ birthdays, keep track of old friends, etc. Once you catch yourself going off track, log off. If only it was that easy!
- Make a Facebook Schedule - Seriously? If you find yourself scheduling Facebook into your daily schedule, this should be a serious warning sign. WikiHow suggests that “after each Facebook goal, write down how much time and at what frequency you’ll need to be on Facebook to achieve that goal.” Are they serious? Based on the calculations they suggested, you end up using Facebook for 6 hours and 20 minutes a week. I think this is still a relatively significant amount of time, although I spend much more time on the site.
- Think of other things you could be doing - Duh! This is a no brainer. I could be at the gym, socializing in the real world or a million other things but there is a reason I logged on in the first place. I’m starting to think that these suggestions are totally useless!
- Leave Facebook - This should have been number one! If you are spending way too much time on Facebook, quit cold turkey. It’s like having your cell phone turned off for 24 hours. Once you do it, you will realize how dependent you have become and think twice about your usage.
- Find a substitute - This one is good. Facebook taking up too much time? Find another site that isn’t as good! WikiHow says “if you find you’re at a computer during critical relapse time, find another website to log onto and read instead of Facebook.” Facebook relapse? This is a little crazy.
So how much time do you spend on Facebook? Has Facebook become an addiction for you?
I suffered from a service interruption for more than 5 hours this morning, I almost killed myself. I’m not even addicted, I can quit when I want. To check my myspace for example !
I suffered from a service interruption for more than 5 hours this morning, I almost killed myself. I’m not even addicted, I can quit when I want. To check my myspace for example !
Helpful tactics, maybe I should have looked at them: I took a one-week vacation from Facebook and wrote about the as-they-happened results (http://alexpollack.blogspot.com/2007/09/breakin...)
Now, to be honest, I’m back, logging-in…alot. But I still learned a few lessons, and became closer to my “real” friends during my Facebook fast.
Helpful tactics, maybe I should have looked at them: I took a one-week vacation from Facebook and wrote about the as-they-happened results (http://alexpollack.blogspot.com/2007/09/breaking-up-with-facebook-for-week-part.html)
Now, to be honest, I’m back, logging-in…alot. But I still learned a few lessons, and became closer to my “real” friends during my Facebook fast.
[...] How to Stop That Facebook Addiction [...]
I find it interesting that society tends to label something as an addiction if we do “too much” of it… according to whom? I was wrangling with this very dilemma when my coach asked me how much joy I was experiencing on a scale of 1-10.
My response is that I’m always an 8, often 9-10 in my life overall. “So what’s the problem?” he said!! Yeah, exactly! LOL. If other areas of life are suffering, granted the ‘addiction’ might need to be addressed.
The other week, I wrote a tongue-in-cheek guide: “Top Ten Signs You’re Addicted To Facebook”
http://whyfacebook.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/top...
I find it interesting that society tends to label something as an addiction if we do “too much” of it… according to whom? I was wrangling with this very dilemma when my coach asked me how much joy I was experiencing on a scale of 1-10.
My response is that I’m always an 8, often 9-10 in my life overall. “So what’s the problem?” he said!! Yeah, exactly! LOL. If other areas of life are suffering, granted the ‘addiction’ might need to be addressed.
The other week, I wrote a tongue-in-cheek guide: “Top Ten Signs You’re Addicted To Facebook”
http://whyfacebook.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/top-ten-signs-you%e2%80%99re-addicted-to-facebook/
God, where do you all quit.
May I suggest a topic or two? “How to Stop That Addiction To Writing About Foolishness” or “Top Ten Signs You’re Addicted To Writing Garbage”
God, where do you all quit.
May I suggest a topic or two? “How to Stop That Addiction To Writing About Foolishness” or “Top Ten Signs You’re Addicted To Writing Garbage”
Hey! I am the same, I cant do it any more.
I wrote about it on a blog, read it if your interested.
Its a great site, but I think for some people, it can be like a drug.
Great Article!
Hey! I am the same, I cant do it any more.
I wrote about it on a blog, read it if your interested.
Its a great site, but I think for some people, it can be like a drug.
Great Article!
Oops forgot to post my link
http://addicted-to-facebook.blogspot.com/2008/02/admitting-is-first-step-to-solving-your.html
Oops forgot to post my link
http://addicted-to-facebook.blogspot.com/2008/0...
My facebook addiction runs in a slightly different manner. Instead of checking my facebook a couple of thousand times a day, I find myself on my ‘homepage’, clicking the refresh button, waiting for a new notification.
Jesus, it’s a wonder that I’m so disappointed when I get a notification that’s something boring (like a group looking for new members or an invite to some crappy application). You’d think I’d be glad to have SOMETHING new in my notifications, but I guess that’s not the way an addiction works..
My facebook addiction runs in a slightly different manner. Instead of checking my facebook a couple of thousand times a day, I find myself on my ‘homepage’, clicking the refresh button, waiting for a new notification.
Jesus, it’s a wonder that I’m so disappointed when I get a notification that’s something boring (like a group looking for new members or an invite to some crappy application). You’d think I’d be glad to have SOMETHING new in my notifications, but I guess that’s not the way an addiction works..
Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, and all that other crap should be shut down forever. Our society cant function anymore without these things and its goddamn pathetic. Do you people even remember what having no cell phone was like?? I REALLY miss those days. Facebook is just an excuse for people to be lazy, stupid and waste their life away.
How can I help my son who is addicted to Facebook?
I know that many people can find facebook very addictive so I have made a group on facebook and guess what its called. Lol its called: FACEBOOK REHAB (for genuine addicts only)
Sounds mad I know but its already attracted 1,633 members. I know there are more addicted out there but they may think a group is silly, but its not, yeah it may be silly being addicted to facebook but its a way for people all over the world to come together and dicuss different things not just about facebook but about life. Their are many topics and discussions going on that has made people all over the world make new friends and have fun. So if you are addicted to facebook then join me and follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/s.php?k=100000080&id=1611870412&sid=feaeaa9cb3865ab809de8d7da0778f57#/group.php?gid=49567723771&ref=ts
I absolutely love how this article highlights ‘fb’ being a addiction….and at the bottom of this page, it has a ‘fb connect’ button to link the website to the page…LMAO…..the writing staff are hilarious….
ok i think its really pathetic how everybody relies on cell phones and internet!!!! seriously people do you remember when we didn’t have that stuff and we made it along just fine!!!!
thank you
People who are addicted to facebook are usually in denial as for any other type of addictions. It’s a completely fake life giving the impression of a close community. If these people would spend the same amount of time and dedication on running their own business, they would be millionaires!
It’s a sad life!
My 13years old daughter was suffering from Facebook Addiction Disorder. Some time ago she spent all free time surfing the web and my husband and I decided to limit Internet access. We bought internet filtering software called Ez Internet Timer.
It helps us control all children’s on-line activity and block Internet browsers, e-mails, ftps or messengers according to our daily schedule. We even set the scheduler to 2 hours a day for all the family members in order to set her a good example
I’m doing a story on Facebook Addiction - looking for people whose relationships/marriages were affected - worse yet, divorce was the end result. If interested, it’s for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution - please email me if you fit the bill. renee.valdes@gmail.com. I’m a longtime journalist and reporter. THANKS
Hmm.. I don’t think so
Thank you for the hint, Gregory. Ez Internet Timer is exactly what I was looking for a long time for my 64-bit Windows Vista. I’ve been using Ez Internet Timer for 5 days already, and my techy son haven’t broken it. My son hates this software, but there is a piece in our home now.