The F word – Facebook
Hate it or love it – you’re on it. Social Media has it’s strong opponents and it’s devotees. The facts are in though and according to expandedramblings.com, as of April 2016 it has a 1.65 billion monthly active users and 1.09 billion daily active users. Canada is the biggest user. The average number of Facebook friends for females is 166. The average number of friends for males is 145. The average time spent on Facebook per user per day is 20+ minutes. Percentage of parents that are friends with their teenagers on Facebook 83%. Percentage of millennials (15-34) that use Facebook is 91%. The number of daily video views on Facebook is 8 billion. The amount of videos viewed daily on Facebook 100 million hours!
I just thought it was interesting with all this Pokemon stuff to have a look at whether Facebook is as evil and time wasting as its made out to be. To me, I actually really love it and think the benefits outweigh the negatives. I just wish it was around when I had my babies – there is so much information out there for Mums now. Being able to have so much contact with other women in the same position – oh I would have loved that!
And for baby boomers finding lost friends and school mates is a heap of fun. Seeing how well or badly your old friends have fared after 30 years and renewing friendships long forgotten brings a host of good and funny memories flooding back.
For some it is providing a livelihood and offers many the ability to work from home while raising a family. For others it is a connection to family and friends left behind while you discover new lands and lifestyles abroad. So much good has been achieved for those less fortunate or going through a tough time and it raises awareness of issues which need addressing. It shows that you are actually thinking the same way as so many others – take last nights state of origin – have a look at the ‘memes’ already flying around and the number of ‘likes’ on each one.
What I see though, as one of Facebook’s greatest attributes is how small the world becomes. How the human race can come together to offer help and sympathy when everything goes mad as it has been lately. How someone grieving can be touched by someone they have never met from another country across the world. How far and how wide the reach is becomes mind boggling and it connects people who need each other when they are at their lowest or indeed their highest. I think the support people receive far outweighs any negatives and allowing us to learn how lucky we are with our First World Problems gives us a nudge to embrace gratitude each and every day.
We can now have a go at Pokemon instead and leave poor Facebook alone. Keep the friendships burning, the travel ideas coming, the recipes flowing and the nostalgia alive. Enjoy x
