"Suffering From Facebook Fatigue"

By: Anita Hamilton
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1731516,00.html?CNN=yes

In Introduction to Library Research and Technology we recently discussed the idea of information overload -- feeling overwhelmed by TOO much information seeping into our email accounts and in our search results. This feeling applies only too perfectly to the evolution of facebook.com. Keeping up with the applications, quizzes, ratings, etc. is becoming incredibly difficult. A few weeks ago I had resigned to trying to keep up with everything that was being thrown at me in my facebook account. And just this week, at dinner with my friends on Monday, they began excitedly talking about the new "flair" application and desperately wanted to know why I had not added this application that was "so much fun!"

Anita Hamilton wrote the article, "Suffering From Facebook Fatigue?" and seems to recognize this issue with the social network. Hamilton explains how the applications have become a vicious cycle because in order to add them, you have to invite more friends to add them. As a result, those friends send you another invitation to add the same or another application in return. In order to keep up and keep your inbox up to date, you have to check your facebook account on a daily basis just to weed out the junk. It can become very frustrating.

Hamilton addresses another issue that I recently found to be true as I spent yesterday afternoon playing catch up with my facebook friends. Advertisers frequently create icons that look like the "ok" button or "next" button or "accept" button. These disguised links can bring to user to an undesired location leaving them feeling confused.

I was happy to see that the author is feeling the same frustrations with the network that I am because none of my friends appear to be plagued by this constant weeding and pulling and adding and sending and inviting.

One of my biggest problems with the facebook community is the applications that allow you to rank friends by popularity. It resembles an immature adventure back to the superficially judgemental days of middle and high school. On my facebook account, I have recently moved up the social ladder to "social butterfly." Are we actually ranking people? And are we actually doing it according to how many "friends" we have in an online community?

Nevertheless, despite these frustrations and annoyances, I continue to facebook. Is it addictive?