A Teen Speaks: Why Has Facebook Become Such A Huge Part Of My Life?

Today, it seems that Facebook's pace of growth is inextricably tied to the growth of technology as a whole. The social networking site has over 500 million active users and it's demographics are expanding not only within the teenage set, but with children, parents, grandparents and even great grandparents who are choosing to communicate via the site. While we have all experienced change and are witnesses to such technological developments that have occurred in recent years, Facebook has made an extremely significant impact on our lives. As a seventeen year old, not a day goes by without me hearing at least one mention of the popular site. In fact, it has become such a big part of our present lives, it is hard to imagine the days where Facebook ceased to exist. I mean, surely we can all see just how important it is to us when the story of its development is made into a movie. Facebook, like all technology, was originally designed to make something easier. In the case of the social networking site, the focus was obviously communication and we are now experiencing its success. But social networking has gone further than anyone thought possible. So what is it that actually makes Facebook great? The answer is simple: it is the easy-to-use features that allow us to send information around the world in an instant. Think about it. Does Facebook allow us to communicate easily? Yes. Send files easily? Yes. Learn the basics about a person from one simple glance at a profile? Sure does. And the best part about the popular social networking site? It is absolutely free (apart from your internet bill, of course). The majority of humans are suckers for a freebie. While people often gain unnecessary objects or vouchers or products simply because they claim to be 'free' and who could possibly turn down such a bargain even if it is something as useless as a bag of dog biscuits for someone who doesn't even own a dog, Facebook has become so popular because not only is it free, but it is something free that we actually need, or at least would be doing otherwise. We would still be chatting to our friends. We would still be sending those required catch-up messages to family members. We would still be organising events, sharing photos, catching up on gossip. This is the real reason why the site has been such a true success. It has created a place where we can perform all our social tasks, things we would be doing anyway, and made it ten times easier. I know a heap of people who opt to send a quick Facebook hello to their aunty who lives overseas, rather than suffer through the phone call that they know will take longer than they have time for. Plus, it keeps the phone bill down. And photo sharing? People my age can barely remember the time where we had to burn discs to give everyone a copy of the photos from that party, let alone print copies for every person, which was not only costly, but annoyingly time consuming. This is what makes the concept of Facebook, and social networking in general, a truly brilliant idea. People communicate and will do so whether there is a website for it or not. Building on this, something that is such a big part of life and making it easier, is simply amazing. We all know that the human race loves to gossip; about friends, about family, about that boy who lives down the road and you've only talked to once in your entire life but are still interested in what he's up to. We can't help it. Creating a global 'grapevine', the biggest one ever, was sure to be a hit. And now, we actually can't live without it. Facebook has changed the world. Sure, there are things that are good about it, and things that are bad, but ultimately it is successful because it appeals to human nature. We can talk to people, look at photos and keep up-to-date with everyone. Essentially, the site revolves around gossip. We can't help but love it.

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A Teen Speaks: Why Has Facebook Become Such A Huge Part Of My Life?

Amy Summers

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Amy Summers