July 25, 2014
The Quit Facebook for 99 Days Movement
Facebook is the site millions of visitors love to hate. Strike that: billions of people actively use Facebook
– 1.23 billion at the end of 2013. That equates to 757 million daily
logins, and 640 million minutes spent (wasted?) on the site monthly. A
whopping 48 percent of users login every single day, spending an average
of 18 minutes doing status updates, liking content, and posting
compromising photos from last night’s drinking binges.
But with all the endless lamenting over how Facebook is a waste of
time, the question remains: does it really make you happy? Do all those
political rants and kitten videos enhance one’s quality of life, or is
it all just part of the incessant clutter that weighs us down?
A creative agency called Just out of Leiden, Netherlands starting
pondering that possibility in recent months. Spurred on by reports that Facebook has purposely manipulated users’ emotions,
Just has not only posed the happiness question to all of Facebook’s
1.23 billion users, they’ve also challenged us to give up the addiction
for 99 days and monitor emotional responses, sans manipulation. For
many, the results have been like digital Prozac.
The Birth of an Anti-Facebook Movement
While this isn’t the first time folks have tried to rally against the
habitual usage of this mammoth social network, it is unique in studying
happiness levels throughout the process.
Because of the recent news about Facebook intentionally changing
users’ streams to showcase either negative or positive content, the
folks at Just started seriously considering the ramifications. Art
Director Merijn Straathof describes how the movement came to be:
“Like a lot of Facebook users, many of us were bothered by reports of
secret mood experiments. As we discussed it internally, we noted an
interesting tendency: Everyone had at least a ‘complicated’ relationship
with Facebook. Whether it was being tagged in unflattering photos,
getting into arguments with others, or simply regretting time lost
through excessive use, there was a surprising degree of negative
sentiment.”
Rather than just lament the addiction, they decided to dig into what
really happens emotionally when Facebook is out of the picture. Just is
now on a crusade to document what life is really like when one decides
to break-up with the biggest social network on the planet.
Join the Crusade to Give Up Facebook for 99 Days
Here’s how the “Quit Facebook for 99 Days” movement works:
1) First, visit the movement’s website, called 99 Days of Freedom.
Register as a bona fide participant, and commit yourself to ceasing all
Facebook usage for the duration. No cheating, as that will unfairly
skew the results. Feeling a bit of panic over the withdrawals? You’re
not alone.
2) Next, post a “time-off” image from the site on your Facebook
profile; this both evangelizes the movement and communicates to all your
Facebook friends why it is that you are no longer commenting and
posting up a storm. It may even inspire some of them to join you in
liberation.
3) You can also set-up a personal countdown on your profile,
indicating your triumphant return (assuming you don’t discover life
without the digital leash is simply not worth giving up.)
4) Anonymous “happiness surveys” will then land in your inbox at the
33-day, 66-day, and 99-day markers. These are crucial to the study, so
answer them honestly. Although this movement did start out as a joke of
sorts, Just is now very serious about logging tangible results in this
study, hoping to prove whether or not the social network is a blessing
or a nuisance to our overall mental health.
5) Feel free to post early and often on their message boards too;
this is a way to share in real-time how the time-off is affecting your
life, for better or for worse.
Ask Not What You Can Do for Facebook, but What Facebook Can Do for You
Here’s the thing about Facebook usage: it’s obvious to see how it
benefits Facebook itself (they had over $7.8 billion in revenues last
year). Have you ever really thought about how Facebook benefits you?
If you’re strictly a Facebook user, that can be a legitimately tough
question to answer. Maybe it keeps you more connected to friends and
family you would otherwise not have in your life. Maybe it’s your
primary source of entertainment. But at what cost do these benefits come
at? And is the good and bad in balance, especially now that we know
Facebook is not above manipulating our streams and experiences. These
are worthwhile questions to consider.
Businesses obviously love Facebook for the massive potential reach,
but have you quantified the actual financial impact the site has on your
bottom line? As ads have become more costly, is the ROI still worth all
the hassle? For many, efforts in Facebook advertising are all in vain,
yet it seems like the place to be, so marketers are hesitant to pull
out.
Regardless of whether or not you join the movement, it’s a fabulous
opportunity to re-evaluate precious time, money, and other resources
spent on this insanely popular network. If there’s obvious value in your
continued usage, march ahead with full force. But, if you’re one of the
thousands of folks who have discovered life is better without Facebook,
you now have a movement to prove you’re not crazy.
What is your take on the 99 Days Without Facebook craze?
0 komentar:
Post a Comment