The Facebook Free Blog

I’ve personally never really been fond of Facebook, so I doubt this endeavour will benefit me much.  I only signed up for Facebook because I was curious; I rarely ever use Facebook.  Barring yesterday, the last time I logged onto Facebook was sometime in November, if I remember correctly.

With that being said, I wish everyone else good luck.

List a couple ways that Facebook positively impacts your life.

• Improved communication with friends
• Good way to obtain information about relevant upcoming events

List a couple of ways that it may negatively impact your life.

• Is a procrastination tool
• There may be privacy concerns

How will it affect you going for 5 days without accessing it?

• No effect

What do you predict will be the outcome of the week?

• I will not use Facebook for a week, and my life will be more or less the same.

-KNYU

To begin I would like to clarify that this is not an Anti-Facebook forum. I personally have nothing against Facebook or anything related to it. I see it as an evolved communication and networking tool. I also am aware that this view barely scratches the surface of the role this site is playing in many people’s lives.
Facebook is quickly becoming a one-stop shop for communication, gaming, socializing, advertising, and sharing information. There are over 500 million people around the world connected to this behemoth and the truth is in the numbers. Facebook is not just a passing fad or trend. It’s use is not merely segregated to the young either.

It has an interface that is accessible to all and is widely used across multiple demographics, nationalities, and age ranges.

As an educator dealing primarily in IT classes, Facebook is something I see on a daily basis. While many of my colleagues view Facebook use in school in a negative light – I have yet to make a firm decision on this as I try to be open to any and all new technologies that are being widely adopted by the masses.

Facebook is becoming so intrinsically meshed with people’s lives – having it on their phones and mobile devices now makes it simple to never have a need to “disconnect”. I have seen cases where Facebook use has ventured into the realm of addictive behaviour patterns that result in significant stress and emotional reactions when the use of the site is restricted.

For the duration of this week (February 28 – March 4) – I have challenged my students ranging in ages from 15-18 to go 5 days without accessing Facebook at school, at home, or on mobile devices. As part of this process, we will be blogging and sharing our thoughts and feelings on this experiment in this public forum.

We welcome and look forward to any comments and feedback you may have. Please feel free to join in or try this experiment for yourself. What will be the effect of disconnecting? Will it be as bad as you imagine? We look forward to sharing our experiences with you.