Facing^
ADDICTION
Facebook regulars can hardly leave the online friendship
factory long enough to complete homework assignments
BY KARA HANSEN
NEWS REPORTER
“Facebook Addicts,” “Facebook
Addicts Anonymous” and “Addicted
to Facebook. ”
The names set the tone for serious
addiction. And while many members
of these groups, spawned by the
Web site’s popularity, say the addiction
is a guise for liking the network,
many people admit to wasting
countless hours on the site, shirking
responsibilities and losing sleep
because they can’t tear themselves
away from their screens.
The Facebook, “an online directory
that connects people through
social networks at colleges and
universities,” according to its Web site,
lets anyone with a university e-mail
address join, post a profile and connect
with other users through a social
network. Users can also create and join
common-interest groups, such as clubs
for the “addicted.”
One of these groups, “Addicted
to Facebook,” sets three criteria for
its 99 members: You must sign on
to www.thefacebook.com multiple
times per day, find Facebook
“to be an electronic friend” and
have met about one-third of
your friends through the site. In
addition, members might be people
who, when they don’t feel like
sleeping, “sign onto the Facebook
and end up staying on for hours,
even though you’re nearly passing
out at your desk,” according to the
club’s profile.
University freshman Kevin
Watkins, an officer and self
proclaimed “24 Hour Addiction
Therapist” for “Addicted to
Facebook,” said he logs on to the
Web site five, six or seven times a
day. He said Facebook gives many
students an excuse to procrastinate.
“Half the time I try to do homework
on my computer, I have Facebook
open, too,” Watkins said. “Everybody
and their mother has it.”
Watkins said it’s not so much a
physical addiction, but many people
find it hard to stay away. He said they
might find themselves repeatedly
logging on to check for messages
from friends, to view friends’ profiles
or to search for new ones, especially
when they need to do homework.
“A lot of people can’t handle not
going on to check it,” Watkins said,
noting he wasn’t sure whether he
could stay away for a long time.
University freshman Phil Wood,
an officer for the 14-member “
Facebook Addicts Anonymous”
group, said one of his friends was
bet to stay off Facebook for two
days but couldn’t do it.
While Wood logs on periodically
throughout the day and only spends
about an hour each day checking
for messages and viewing friends’
profiles, it used to be more.
“For the first couple weeks, I
would spend up to three hours a day
on it,” Wood said. “When you join,
it occupies a lot of time, but that
gradually decreases. ”
Wood said Facebook has become
more than a habit.
“It’s become part of my routine,”
he said. “Even if I looked at (the
Facebook) a half hour ago, I’ll check
it again.”
University freshman Lindsay
Brown is a member of “Facebook Ad
dicts,” a group with 22 members at
the University.
Brown signs on to Facebook “three
times a day, at least,” but said she
isn’t really addicted.
“I go on quite a bit,” Brown
said, “but I don’t know about it
being an addiction.”
karahansen@ daily emerald, com
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