FACEBOOK, SCHMACEBOOK....

New research from Edinburgh University has revealed that the more time people spend on Facebook, the more anxious they become. I would have to agree and I don't think an expensive piece of research was needed to verify the point. I joined Facebook a few years back at the behest of my university chums as a way of keeping in touch through our studies and arranging revision between us. It soon snowballed into a multitude of friends requests from people I hadn't seen for a millennium and then media headlines of hacking within Facebook accounts and selling your soul to unscrupulous nosey-parkers. 
In Facebook's defence, it was quite amusing at first. I'd chat to people I'd lost contact with, friends I was at school with who were living the vida loca in the USA or Australia, and ex-work colleagues. There would be some really amusing exchanges of funny stories and genuine wit which would draw some equally amusing comments. Two of my friends even got together through Facebook - a union which would never have happened in a month of Sunday's without the help a few months of cyber flirting via Facebook. 
Over time, the novelty wore off with the onset of requests to join Farmville, Cityville, Tossersville, GetALifeVille etc. With the gathering of more friends including my own nephews and nieces, you become accustomed to the endless exposure of your 'friends' providing tiny updates on the dullest minutiae of life. If reading my teenage nephew's and niece's updates weren't bad enough, 'OH MY GOD, ur soo gay u retard', to 'friends' feeling to urge to share with the world the most mundane of daily activities. Examples I've had include - 'just had toast for breakfast', 'work today' or 'just been to toilet'. You get to the point of screaming at your computer screen with 'BIG BLOODY DEAL'. Well thanks for that. My life has been enriched with that knowledge. And then there's the sharing of photos. I had a grumpy spat with an old friend who felt the need to upload photos from our youth. Some of the photos I felt, infringed my privacy and were not in keeping with my current responsibilities under the code of conduct I signed up to when becoming a nurse. But that's the trouble with Facebook, once they're on and you're tagged, it's very difficult for many, many people not to see them. Facebook is also seen as a useful forum for getting things off your chest and I've seen some very unwise comments and language being used which borders at times on the side of slander. I'm gobsmacked when I see people's ranting in cyberspace with the misguided notion that free speech under the premise of Facebook will not have repercussions. Like the saying goes, you can only get away with it for so long.. So for now, I am giving Facebook a body swerve and leaving it to the teenagers and to people who want to be on there or who like to expose every detail of their lives. I shall stick to blogging under a more subtle veil of anonymity. It's far more amusing and there's no mention of Farmsville.....