Has anyone else been shocked that Facebook has managed to stay popular for so long? If anyone remembers the good old days of Myspace, Bebo etc, you may recall that both of these websites died out in popularity in around 4 years. I am astonished to see that I got Facebook in 2008, meaning that I have kept a profile for a total of 7 years... and often I ask myself why on earth I have insisted on continuously updating my profile after all this time. Facebook is the place where you can keep up with acquaintances, the ones who you can't be bothered to get their phone numbers off but message once in a while if necessary.
In all honesty, Facebook has become a replica of Friends United (if anyone uses that at all these days?!), except the majority of people on your "friends" list are not friends at all. Instead they are the people you hated at school yet insist on scrolling through their recent photos just to check if they look bad in any photos, people you met on a night out once and now have to put up with their updates of which you will know nothing about, and those people you met on a holiday or trip and said "yeah add me on Facebook I'll message you!" (It never happened).
A hugely irritating trend that seems to have taken over Facebook news feeds, is an abundance of people feeling the need to share everything they see or think is remotely funny. This activity my dear readers, is reserved for Twitter, where you can RETWEET things. Those annoying Vine style videos where you can watch a dog chase its own tail, absolutely get on my tits. No longer do I see oversharing in the form of statuses (feeling attention-seeking!), rather political opinion that people have decided to be absolutely right because they've just read an article on Buzzfeed and now they've started a feud over the comments section.
Venting aside, it's obvious that newer, shinier social media is taking over our smartphones, such as Instagram and Snapchat. Instagram is a visual haven where people can filter to their heart's content, drool over other people's perfect lives and scroll, scroll and scroll some more. Facebook has become more of a internet photo album, where people can store their embarrassing photos from year 9 parties and hope no one mega stalks them. In other words, Facebook has become a little dated for the more snappy, and instant updates from other social media. However, the big question remains - why do we still insist on updating it with our holiday pictures? Why do we bother changing our profile pictures and cover photos in our best light?
Keeping up with the Jones'. A fresh, updated Facebook profile is deemed much better than a profile picture from 2011 and your most recent photos that party where you looked a little worse for wear. I am a self proclaimed profile picture changer, purely because I am vain. I like the likes, and I would defy people to disagree. Social media on a whole has encouraged a competitive side in us, one where we fight for the most likes on a photo, even if it's from that girl who likes everything on your profile. As human beings we crave attention and flattery, even if it's just a "looking good!" on your much anticipated bikini shot from your holiday. It makes us feel special - and Facebook is designed around this whole concept. Likes keep us addicted to gratification, and wanting to keep updating, to keep getting that rush.
The bare truth is that, Facebook will die when our self esteem is high enough not to care about how many likes we get on posts and pictures, when the new trend is to take our perfect lives offline and not share it with everybody. Unfortunately I don't see this trend becoming fashionable for a long time.
Thanks for reading! What do you think?
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