Oatmeal Stout - Justin Thorp’s Web 2.0 blog

Can You Live A Week Without Facebook?

September 17, 2007 · 4 Comments

I have been really busy lately. Work has had my que loaded pretty non-stop. When I’m not working, I’m getting ready to move into the city, organizing conferences, and hanging out with friends. It’d be incredibly easy for me to go a week without using Facebook.

I’ve been thinking about, talking about, and writing about Facebook and I’m still not really sure what extraordinary thing it does.

Facebook is the place where I find out whats up with my friend from third grade who I haven’t talked with in 10 years. Facebook is where I get bitten by the Zombie application from the person who I met at a conference but haven’t talked to since. Facebook is where my friends join groups which do absolutely nothing.

I challenge all of you who read this to not use Facebook for a week. See if you can live without it. I bet you can.

If you can’t live with out it, tell me why. Like Robert Scoble, has it become your address book? Do you have 5000 friends you have to keep track of?

Also… I challenge my friend Nick O’Neill to live without Facebook for a week or to write me a post convincing me why he can’t live without it (and the reason can’t be that its the center of his business.)

Categories: Communication · Community · Facebook · Social Networking · Web · Web Applications

4 responses so far ↓

  • Samantha Warren // September 17, 2007 at 9:05 pm

    I will be honest…I’m not into Facebook. It is really a confusing scenario for me because I was so addicted to myspace for so long.. and facebook has a more attractive design. Perhaps the initial adrenaline rush of discovering all my old friends has worn off. I certainly don’t find the widgets useful, knowing if I have the same top 5 favorite movies as the girl I sat next to in 7th grade algebra class does nothing for me.Half of the people who contact me on there have barely spoken to me in person, if ever… so why do I want to “take their quiz”? Am I using this thing wrong or something? I take your challenge Justin.. but unfortunately its not much of a challenge for me… I hardly ever check it anyway.
    Please… someone.. give me a reason to love Facebook!

  • Ted // September 18, 2007 at 8:59 am

    Facebook is so last year. I don’t even bother to do anything on it anymore, except use it for communication occasionally. I rarely even load it.

  • paula // September 19, 2007 at 8:49 am

    I agree with Samantha above. I don’t quite get it yet. I can’t help but feel like i’m trying to be 16 again…..part of the ‘in’ crowd. are we all trying to recapture our young, carefree, wanna be cool feeling by using facebook? Maybe if it felt more ‘grown up’, i wouldn’t feel like such a poser on it.

  • Holly J // October 15, 2008 at 5:27 pm

    After starting this event, I came across your journal. Please join this if you are currently using facebook, and invite everyone you know.

    http://www.facebook.com/inbox/#/event.php?eid=33994657482&ref=mf

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