Jul 17, 2014

Hating to Love (me on) Facebook

Tarsago Budapest office, 2014
The title was not my idea, I recently read an article in NY Times when traveling from Antalya to Budapest (how cool is that for a globalization example :)). Hating to Love Facebook was presenting the situation of Europeans which are constantly and publicly rioting against big American tech firms like Facebook and Google while being among the most active and loyal users with a usage share much higher than Americans.

It is very fashionable to write against Facebook these days and about how (negatively) affected and transformed our lives. Some of them are very right and I fully agree. However, as for many other things in life, there is the matter of free will. If I don't like it while am I still using it?

Hence the title of this post, it is not about hating or loving Facebook, it is about hating or loving the effect is has on me. While Facebook is a global wave which changed our media, social and individual behavior in a terrible way within a short period, it's up to any of us to understand how it affects us and adapt.

This is why I love me using Facebook:

1. Because it gives me access to a wide audience when I have something to say
2. Because I have retrieved old friends and colleges and I am keep doing it
3. Because I save money on phone communications
4. Because I can talk to people around the world easy
5. Because I can follow photographic work and news easy
6. Because I can't ignore it in my work and profession
7. Because I can get the news faster but not the whole news portal mess
8. Because I can rely on some people to feed me with interesting stuff
9. Because I understand or find out things about people otherwise impossible
10. Because it makes me look sometimes different than I feel :D

This is why I hate me using Facebook:

1. Because I spend too much time on it
2. Because my wife spends too much time on it
3. Because we show point 1 and 2 above to our kids constantly
4. Because I take the likes as appreciation for my photo work. Since I started posting my images in my blog, the number of "likes" decreased 10 times!  It makes me lazy and sufficient in exhibiting my photo work
5. Because I read less :(
6. Because it makes me superficial in reading
7. Because  it is the least secure and safe communication method
8. Because I accepted everybody on my wall
9. Because it provokes me to exhibit myself in an unnecessary degree
10. Because it kills my human communication skills. Try and meet a FB friend in person and speak the in the same FB-ish style with him.

How about you, do you love or hate yourself using it?