I realized some things this weekend about Facebook. Yes, I still like the social community, there are a ton of great things about it. You can quickly touch base with people, you can see pictures, see what they post, etc, etc. My favorite people on FB are my relatives - it gives me a way to stay up to date with them with pictures, and the such. And I hope the for the same on their end. My Aunt Mary even 'friended' me - a woman who I have never met in real life, let alone communicated with. I'm friends with a few cousins I've never met as well. I feel like I gained family members - they now exist more than just a name - I've got pictures and some semblance of personality attached with names now. Yay and how cool is that?!
However, just as I have limited friends in real life, I have limited friends on FB; a good deal of my FB friends are family members, too. This lack of friends normally does present some angst with me, but it's something I've somewhat accepted about MY personality. I don't make close friends easily. It's not an untruth.
BUT! Since when does being a social butterfly determine how to play computer games? I am a little obsessed with the farming games on FB. You have a farm, you plow land, plant and harvest crops and plants, and take care of animals. You receive monies in payment and experience points to increase level. Cool, right? Not much different than a lot of computer games. BUT! The social butterfly part - I don't like that I have to have "8 friends to increase your farm size". That's stupid. Why should I be penalized with a tiny farm just because my friends have better things to do than spend hours on FB, facebooking? E-gads! Just let me buy land, dammit.
I was just thinking to myself this weekend that I need to wean myself off of farming games on Facebook and stop playing the popularity contest I will NEVER win. I'll never have a huge farm. I can spend the time I spend facebooking doing something way more constructive (like making those rings I learned how to make Monday night). Or reading a book.
The funny thing is, though, what I heard on the radio show I listen to this morning... Apparently FB and similar social networking sites, and phone applications (games, etc on phones), are ADDICTING! The brain gains positive reinforcement for visiting the sites - it's fun! So we go back, and go back, and go back, and go... Well, you get the point. Hmmm... Now that's a thought. Kinda is funny considering that my favorite tv comedy was using positive reinforcement on a human to train her with chocolate the other night.
So, while I'm not leaving my facebooking days behind me, I am going to attempt to step away (slowly) from the FB gaming obsession. Instead of harvesting every day, I think I'll try for two or three times a week. Ha!
Step 1 is admiting you have a problem...
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