RWS Activity 2
RWS Activity 2
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Though Facebook is just one of many social networking sites, it has unique features that make it more addictive. For example,
compared to Twitter, Facebook requires you to be a friend of another user before you can follow him/her. Facebook also has fan pages
for celebrities – a feature which Twitter does not have. Finally, Facebook has filters. For example, Edgerank automatically monitors
your activity and filters the content posted by your friends which might not be your interest. Nevertheless, both Twitter and Facebook
allow real-time interactions and reconnection with friends.
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The causes of Facebook addictions are both internally and externally induced. According to Dr. Brent Conrad, Facebook fulfills
our social needs in the digital world. Another feature of Facebook that induces addiction is that it quantifies friends. Facebook will tell
you how many “friends” you already have in a specific period. One may think that the more friends you have, the more popular you
are. Facebook also has combined features of gaming and socializing. These games tend to focus on online social interactions. Finally,
Facebook is a boredom buster. If you have nothing to do, Facebook allows you to check other people’s status, to chat with friends, to
post your favorite quotes and lines.
According to CNN, the first sign that you are already addicted to Facebook is if you become insomniac for using it. If you see that you
are staying up late at night more and more just to check Facebook, start thinking about using it. Another symptom of Facebook
addiction is if you use it for more than an hour per day. You can use some applications to track this. Third, you become obsessed with
“friending” your ex-boyfriend and girlfriend. Ignoring your work is another symptom of Facebook addiction. Instead of writing your
reports and proposals, you tend to sneak time on Facebook. Worse, if you do this during working hours. The last but not the least
symptom of addiction is if leaving Facebook causes you so much stress and anxiety.
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To treat this kind of addiction, Dr. Conrad suggests that the first thing you should do is to admit that you are addicted to Facebook
and that you need to address it. Then, keep track of how much time you spent on Facebook. As noted earlier, more than an hour a day
is not a good sign. You can use Facebook applications that control your usage such as self-control application. If you cannot help but
use Facebook, limit the number of feeds and updates you receive and purge your Facebook friends if there are too many already.
Remember, quality is better than quantity. Finally, turn off Facebook notifications in your email. Receiving email notifications will
tempt you more to log in to your Facebook account.
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