Well you know, I find I agree with a fair amount in this post. At the core of FB is there not a paradox - the more 'connected' we become online the less we engage in more substantive communication offline? For me, I see an abstraction that takes place; an FB profile check on a friend replaces a phone call, an FB invite replaces a more direct intimate invitation etc. Are such abstractions corrosive to relationships in the long run? I'm increasing concluding they are. Further, does a system that abstracts relationships amplify negative patterns of behaviour too, such as bullying, stalking, soap boxing and ranting polemics, obnoxious behaviour/superfluous prattle for sake of attention seeking etc? Possibly. The toxic paring of FB with the complications of adolescence seems tangible to me too; my 14 year old step sister has become a veritable celebrity at school as she uses FB as the medium with which to qualify quite natural inclinations for her age; peer recognition, kudos, etc. Robbed of context and played out in front of an goading and somewhat unsympathetic audience these natural inclinations have warped into something quite odd and unpleasant. I hope she'll look back and laugh one day but you know some kids don't pull through it:
http://goo.gl/nzDb1 You can be mentally rather delicate in these years. As an aside, the distracting potential of FB seems glaring obvious too; I have witnessed colleagues productivity plummet when some FB scandal erupts in their digital social sphere, frustrating when this impacts the rest of the teams work day. As someone said on here before, I guess use in moderation is the key, but again, if people don't like the FB service and want to opt out all together, 'more power to them' I say. This perception of a FB profile as a necessity in the 21st century seems fanciful on one level and insidious on another.