Stop freaking out, Facebook is not dangerous!

It’s been about 10 years since Facebook has made its arrival in the Internet world, and dare I say, in our personal lives. Despite its success, pretty much everyone on this planet has at some point massively criticized this medium. I have heard people say: “it has ruined my social life”, “I have 500 friends but none of them are real”, “Thanks to Facebook, I don’t read books anymore”, “I have no more personal life”, and so forth. Even Facebook avid users like myself sometimes condemn what Facebook has done to our lives. In reality, Facebook has never done anything to anyone; it is the users’ responsibility to control Facebook, and not the other way round.

Contrary to popular belief, Facebook is not dangerous to our society, far from it. I am here to illustrate that Facebook is a remarkable tool that can allow you to succeed in numerous ways. Yes, I said it. If used appropriately, Facebook will allow you to be on top of the social, political, and/or intellectual ladder. You can build strong friendship, enlarge your general knowledge, make money, and/or freely discuss your principles (although this last one depends on where you live). For those of you who are not on Facebook, you are missing out a great deal, and you don’t even know it. For those of you who are and are not satisfied, then perhaps you are misusing it. And for those of you, who love Facebook like myself, bravo, you got it!

Right now, some of you might be thinking that Facebook is paying me to write this, or that I’m dating Mark Zuckerberg. I wish! If Facebook was paying me, I doubt that I would be posting this on my personal blog; a blog that has on average 5 visitors per day. And, if I was dating Mark, well… Let’s not go there; I don't want to get sued for saying something inappropriate. Truthfully speaking dear reader, I am writing this solely on my own initiative.

Yes, it is true, that Facebook has changed the way we communicate, socialize, build friendship, and share news. But I argue that those changes are positive changes. In fact, the day Facebook will kick the bucket—because let’s face it, everything has an end—I am certain that many of us will lose a piece of our lives with it. I have the utmost respect for the creators and the people that maintain this social media. And I am about to tell you why.

I have about 800 friends on Facebook. Most people would think that I probably don’t know those 800 people. “That’s too much”; “how can you really connect with those 800 people, it’s absurd!” But, if you think about how many people you know in your life (depending of course of how old you are), you will soon realize that 800 is not that much. And if you have lived in varied different cities, have attended many different schools, have had several jobs, and are involved in numerous associations, 800 people is a ridiculously tiny part of your friend circle. So first things first, don’t judge people by how many friends they have on Facebook’ that might mean that they have quadruple the number in real life.

Now, to answer the question: Do I know all the 800 people that are on my Facebook friends list. Well, of course I do, otherwise they wouldn’t be there. Why would anybody share information about themselves to someone they don't know? (Unless of course it's for advertising purposes, in which case, it is warranted). Each and every of the 800 friends I have on Facebook are or have been important in my life at some point. They bring me joy, useful information (and of course sometimes not so useful ones), and a sense of belonging. Some are family members, some are my very close friends, some are my colleagues, my students, childhood friends with whom I share incredible memories, some are people that I know from varied organizations I am part of, and some are classmates or professors. And yes, I know every single one of them, and can even tell you the first time I met them and the last time I saw them. So this is not just a simple “let me add all the people I saw one day” kinda thing; this is more like a “let me add this amazing person that I am growing to know and would love to connect more with”, or “let me add that person I spent 5 years in high school with eating together”.

Yes, of course I would love to spend actual time with them and meet them in person, but I simply cannot because they live miles away or my work/school schedule does not allow me to. But guess what? Thanks to Facebook I connect with them anytime I/they want. How is this a bad thing? I am able to see my godson grow on the other side of the planet thanks to photos his mom posts on Facebook; I am able to easily plan events with my friends so that we can go grab some delicious meals by the river; I am able to open a discussion group about a certain topic that is dear to me; I am able to chat with my mentor who allows me to grow wiser every single day. So I ask you again: How is all this a detriment to society? In fact, more than ever we are connecting with our peers, building strong friendships, creating new friendships, talking, and sharing. Isn’t that the definition of society? Just because it is being done over a computer doesn’t mean we are not together, of course we are. We are more than together; we are present in each other lives despite the distance that might separate us. This is magical people! Not dangerous. And by the way, nobody will ever tell you that the day they joined Facebook they stopped meeting their friends in person. Facebook is complimentary to your actual life, not a replacement.

Believe it or not, one of my major sources of international news is Facebook. Yep! With 800 friends that live all over the world, I get hands-on experience of what they are going through. From the Egypt revolution in 2011, to the Norway attack on the island of Utøya. From the earthquake in Japan, to soccer championships, etc. Plus, I’m lucky to have 800 intellectual or highly knowledgeable friends, hence, they post news links that are trustworthy and that I can follow right away without sitting in front of my TV and waiting for the journalist to talk about the information I want to hear. I said that Facebook increases general knowledge, and I say it again. Without it, most people wouldn’t be able to know half of what is going on in the world. And the same goes for me; the amount of useful information I gather from Facebook on a daily basis is double the amount I gathered when I was not.

Now, don’t get me wrong, all information on Facebook is not useful. Of course not; just like not all information on television or radio is. But like I said in the beginning of this post, when used appropriately Facebook teaches you a lot more than you think.

Now let’s talk about how Facebook can help your political agenda… Actually, I don’t even think I have to go over this, do I? Everyone who has followed Obama’s campaign knows first-hand that Facebook was a HUGE reason for his victory in the election. If you were not aware of this, simply google “Obama and Facebook”, or better yet, like Obama’s page on Facebook and see for yourself. Again, please know that I am not advertising for the Democratic Party in the US, and I am not being paid by anyone there. If I had connections with Obama, I would probably be writing about something of higher importance like Obama Care or something.

Financially, if you have a product to sell, an event to announce, a restaurant that you are opening… And you want your 800 friends to know about, Facebook allows you to do that in one simple click, and your 800 friends can even share it to their 800 friends. If this is not the best advertising tool there is, I don't know what it. It’s cheap, quick, and easily accessible. Needless to say, if you have a business and you are not using Facebook you are not reaching your highest potential as a business owner. You are forbidding all those Facebook users from being your potential costumers. Why?

To all the people that say that they have stopped reading since Facebook emerged. First of all that is not true, what you read on the internet is also called reading (it might not be a book per se, but you are getting educated by reading news, posts, etc.). However, if you really feel like your reading habits have reduced due to Facebook, then you are probably using it more than you should. When I said that Facebook is to be used wisely, this is partially what I meant. Remember, Facebook is a supplement, use it when you need it. For some that might be 5 minutes a day, some an hour a day, and some 3 hours. What matters is that while you are on Facebook you feel as though you are gaining something important; you are satisfied with how you are spending your time. If not, turn off that computer and do something else that is more useful and more gratifying.

The last point I want to discuss is the privacy issue that everyone is so afraid about. First, let’s put things in perspective, Facebook does NOT force you to post anything you don't want to other than your name (and even that, you can invent an alias). Whatever information you write can be used against or in favor of you, just like when you speak to someone on the street, make a presentation at a conference, or publish a paper. There is absolutely nothing different about Facebook when it comes to controlling what you say. As one of my primary teacher would say: “repeat what you are about to say 7 times in your head before saying it out loud”. Once you’ve made sure that it will have no or little repercussion, then you can say/post it.

It is true that Facebook uses your information to help advertisers know exactly what you like and what you are into. After all they need to make money, they can’t just give you a wonderful service for free and not get anything in return. If you owned Facebook, you’d do the same. They have employees to pay and maintenance fees like any other company.  So they can either charge us a fee to join Facebook, or use advertisements. I vote for the latter. Remember though, if you don't tell Facebook what you like, then they cannot tell their advertisers. So really in the end, it’s up to you.

There is a reason why Facebook is the world’s largest social media. If people really hated it, they will be off of it. So, to those of you who are not yet on Facebook, don’t wait another second to join—unless of course you don’t really care about connecting with friends who live far from you, or make more money for your business, or increase your knowledge. There are of course other ways to reach these goals, and if it is working sublimely for you, then definitely, no need for you to join. But if there is a slight doubt in your mind that maybe, just maybe you could make more money by using Facebook, or you could meet more people, or … Then Just use it wisely, and you’ll see the advantages in a few days.