Facebook is such an amazing modern social influence, it provides us with the power to keep in touch with people in our own social circle and others from anywhere in the world. Regardless if we've met them or not.

When I began using it in January 2009 I was astonished by the social oppertunities it provided me with. I could keep people updated with photos of places I've visited, chat with others, keep in touch with friends and family and most importantly, organise events and outings. Everything that was worth investing my time in.

Now however, I see it from a different point of view. It seems now that it's used as a way of seeking comfort of others whenever something goes wrong in our everyday lifes or as a way to update others of something completely insignificant. A few examples:

A friend of mine likes to inform facebook daily at 7AM on how she dispises getting up at that time for a 9AM lecture.

Nearly half of my FB friends feel the need to inform FB on how drunk they are on a saturday night when they could be off the internet continuing to enjoy their night.

Another friend of mines likes to inform FB weekly on how being single sucks and how he longs for a girlfriend.

My statuses have a high like and comment count but I feel I am the only person updating facebook on interesting things I do & I am contemplating whether deactivation would be the best choice to take. I will loose touch with people on there but my time will be better invested in other things.

I am NOT asking you to make the decision for me, I'm interested in your opinion in the matter.

_________________
"At the end of the day these are women's lives we're dealing with, not mere entertainment."

"We are what we repeatedly do. excellence therefore is a habit and not an act."

people are followers

facebook is an amazing medium

but with privilege comes responsibility.

the ability to stay in touch with our loved ones, to make new friends, to keep old friends, to social network for personal and professional reasons is a PRIVILEGE. it can be a great thing for our lives.

however, the vast majority of people ruin the facebook experience because they resort to the lowest common denominator and do the things that you listed above. that is what ruined facebook for me.

social networking (whether in real life or online) should be seen as a second job. and a person should ask this question before posting ANYTHING on facebook:

if i was to put this on a billboard on the side of the expressway, what would i want people to read?

i'm pretty sure it wouldn't be "i am lonely and i hate getting up early"

that is just fucking ridiculous.

but facebook in and of itself is not inherently flawed. people are. and beyond being flawed, they are followers. so you get a few idiots who misuse and abuse a great utility such as facebook, and all the followers (95% of humanity) follow suit and you end up with a cesspool (hence a microcosm of society: another cesspool)

Just use FB as a tool to communicate with friends and family as you said. Ignore what everyone else does, since its inevitable people do like to seek attention wherever and wherever they can. Best just to ignore, and get on with what you do. You don't even have to update your own status.

Not forgetting to mention that you can (and people do use) use facebook for game. Girls having stupid status updates only gives you more of a reason to bust on them.