Facebook: A parallel Internet?

Recently we have discussed the issue of whether Facebook is a “parallel Internet” or, in other words, whether it is developing into such…

I have then started to think about my facebook… about the changes that have been done by facebook and about my use of facebook because I think this issue, or theory, is interwoven with each other.

Firstly, I have realized that I, indeed, reduced my usage of facebook in the sense that I have not posted as much. Now this can be due to the fact that my life is not that interesting anymore, or the fact that I am indeed a bit more careful about what floats around in the internet. However, even though I am not posting as much Facebook, nowadays, seems to know a lot more of what I like and what I am interested in. That is a bit scary, I admit, however, not scary enough for me to delete my profile. And that is the point…. Call it peer pressure … but I indeed have the feeling I could miss out on something important. Not only on something that people have posted, but rather on the News itself. Nobody seems to have time these days. People always have places to go or places to be, and sometimes you don´t even make it home by 6 pm to watch the news. Thus it seems more than important to keep up-to-date. Facebook on the go is thus the simplest way of never missing out….

Furthermore, unlike the news programs, Facebook automatically know what you like, and what you are interested in. Thus you don´t have to watch or read things that just isn´t interesting for you. Now, whether that is good or not, that is up to everyone themselves. Facebook also reduces advertisement in the sense that it “passivates” it. I mean, you don´t have like, 3 minutes of advertisements, rather, you can just klick them away and ignore them. It therefore seems like its got all the information you need, while minimizing the effort for the viewer. And let´s be honest humanity really likes a geat outcome with minimal effort …

However, and that is the point, is do we really need this? Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages ? I am not one to judge … and I am not in the position to do such, but, it got me thinking…