Facebook Frenzy

I always wonder how nice it would be to go a day without running to my cell phone for every call or pretend I don't have an email address or a facebook profile that I'm a slave to. The funny thing is I'm not the only one that dreams of a day without being tied to a phone or computer.

A perfect example of how reliant our society is with staying connected became blatant in my Ethics class earlier this week. When asked who didn't have a phone with them at that moment, not a single hand from a class of fifty was raised. Unbelievable! While cell phones allow us to keep in touch with friends, the phone itself has evolved from a communication tool to a necessity to a trendy accessory.

But while our availability to the media has grown, has our content evolved with the times? On every college campus, Facebook has become an addiction for most college students. Techcrunch stated in an article that 85 percent of college students use Facebook. The real question around facebook is why is it so addictive. In my opinion, our society is too busy to read a lengthy email or spend five minutes on a phone, so instead we turn to facebook, text messaging or instant messaging in order to get a quick point across. The idea of an email has become an informal means of communicating with someone. While emails have become a "stuffy" way to communicate with someone, text messaging and facebooke allow users to leave quick hits or thoughts on a friends profile. The messages are generally lighter in nature and are quick and easy to respond to. I think our society has become overwhelmed with the connectivity and prefer single thoughts rather than a lengthy conversations.

The business world is a perfect example of our addiction to the net. Rather than walking to a co-workers office and talking face-to-face, we use email to communicate, cutting down on small talk and keeping us tied to our computer.

Rather than spending the time looking for information, we skim online newspapers, skip through hundreds of television stations and look for quick messages from friends and family. An example of the media catching on to the short attention span of the readers occurs daily when news organizations enable members to customize the web page. The Minneapolis Star Tribune allows members to select the news based on personal interests.

In the coming years, news organizations will be forced to mold to the interest of their viewers. With all the different means of staying connected and accessing news and entertainment, it will be imperative for online organizations to keep the news fresh, sharp and short to grab the attention in a frantic world.