the evils of facebook

so facebook takes up a lot of my time, and i mean a lot. its not that i want it to i just somehow cant stop checking it, wondering who has msg'd me back, who posted photos, whats going on this weekend etc etc.... its a monster. i literally am on it whenever i am on near around or even away from my computer, i refresh the screen when i walk into the room, and its rather embarrassing to admit it and write it down. why do we ( i am among many) feel the need to check facebook that much. is it a sort of addiction: addiction is defined as-the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma- would i suffer from severe trauma if my facebook was taken away?? no more or less than i would if my cell phone or msn. but these are all means of contact with other people in my 'community' of friends. are we becoming a fundamental co dependant society that depends upon its impersonal technology to contact and keep in touch with one another. it seems that the deeper we get the more impersonal our means of contact become. its like the last sienfeld episode when elaine is trying to get in contact with her friend and she "looses the call waiting faceoff" and gets the "airplane phonecall" that are not deemed worthy for the type of conversation that she is about to have... have these stigmas been replaced by the ease with which we can crush off a comment on facebook or myspace and quickly leave a msg for a friend on their birthday rather than making the effort to give them a call or send a letter. do we rank people and importance based on how we remain in contact with them?

I would like to believe that facebook -or other forums like this- are great ways to keep in contact with people....


but are they???

having friends overseas i find it a quick and handy way to keep in contact without really having to put too much effort into it. the ease with which we can do this scares me. but really how intellectual or meaningful of a conversation can one have while posting on another's wall, with feedback only periodically? and does this stem back to my so called addiction to facebook... why do i need to check it so much, and waste so much time...