I may as well admit this right off the bat: I was a Myspace addict too. When I first created my account freshman year, I could not get enough of "friend scouting" and creating new profile layouts. I soon found myself spending hours a day on the site, and substituting sleep for my daily Myspace appetite.
After a year or so and countless hours of wasted time, I finally caught on to the fact that Myspace was taking over my life. I would wake up early in the morning just to see if I had a new comment, and when the "top friends" feature came out, my friends at school would start drama when their friend ranking went up or down. I severed my ties with Myspace, and decided to move on to bigger and better things (initially starting by claiming my eight hours of sleep again).
In the months following my withdrawal from the site, my life saw a drastic improvement. I miraculously had time to practice the flute again, finish all homework with time to spare, and hang out with my family.
Then came summer camp. I spent six weeks in Michigan at an arts camp, where I met some of my closest friends. I couldn't bear to part with them at the end of the summer, but we promised to keep in touch. They told me about Facebook, the "new Myspace", and requested that I add them upon my return home.
I was skeptical. My new Myspace-free life had been extremely productive, and I could see no reason to abandon my new lifestyle. However, I missed my friends from camp dearly, and after they explained to me that Facebook featured a clean, organized design, and was very entertaining, I was convinced. I signed up two days after I returned home.
Just as I had become addicted to Myspace, I was hooked to Facebook instantly. I loved being reconnected to my friends and constantly being in touch with my closes acquaintances.
Now, let me get to the point. It was with the creation of my Facebook account that I realized that it's more than just another social networking site. It provides a snapshot of my life and the people that I hold dear to me, and connects us all together in a way that phones and e-mail never could. Through wall posts and picture tagging, I can capture the essence of friendships and learn things about people that they would never dare say in real life. Facebook gives me a glimpse into the unspoken aspect of people and their relationships, and makes my complicated and sometimes overwhelming high school social network seem worlds smaller.
Through Facebook, I've realized that my problem exists not with social networking sites themselves, but with the addiction that they create. When controlled and limited to a reasonable amount of time and effort, these sites provide a unique and crucial tool to eliminating barriers and helping the world better understand other people.
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
