"My name is Jesse Newell, and I've been a Facebook-aholic for over a year now."
I still remember when the sports editor at the Kansan first asked if I had the Facebook. I said no.
She became friend No. 1.
I still remember what she said to me that day: "You tell yourself that you won't like it, but it will become an addiciton. I promise."
And of course I didn't believe her. I had to believe I had more self-restraint than that. It really wasn't that cool anyways. Why all the fuss for some strange online directory?
Two-hundred fifty friends later, I know why.
I never thought it would happen to me. I guess it happens with us all.
We think of ourselves as independent -- as an individuals that won't jump at the latest trend or the newest technology. For about two years in high school there, I had truly convinced myself that I didn't need a cell phone like everyone else.
Then, eventually, the new gadgets or devices are something give in to. And never, ever get out of.
I am officially a Facebookie, checking the site around five times per day.
Excessive, yes. Out of the ordinary for a college kid like me: not really. According to a Wired news article, more than 60 percent of the 2.8 million people on Facebook.com log on at least once daily.
How has this changed my generation? The simple answer is that we are never letting go of the technology -- or each other.
I am truly amazed what percentage of people talk on their cell phones on the way to class. It's somewhat disturbing. It makes me long for the days when people did not need entertainment on their 3-minute breaks between English and Biology 101.
But then again, I 'm just as bad as anyone. I'm now a multi-tasker like everyone else, checking scores while talking on instant messenger while checking friends on Facebook while missing out on listening to the Royals on the radio that I was quite content with for the first 14 years of my life.
My facebook profile is not reflecting my personal self any more -- it is becoming my personal self.
And while gaining so much with technology, it feels like all of us are losing a part of ourselves.
We are increasingly living in interconnected worlds. We get a lot of our news from Facebook and cell phones and not from TV news stations and newspapers.
Everything is changing. Everyone is connected.
And all of us are guilty, though back at friend No. 1 I never would have believed it.
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