Ronald Read - Delete Me: An Argument Against Facebook

The question that we first have to ask ourselves is why do people use Facebook? Or better yet, what is it that makes this one social network so great compared to all of the others? After all Facebook is not radically different from a network like Google+ or Twitter. But for some reason Facebook has more members than they do. And the average Facebook user uses the network longer than the others do. There is something special about Facebook that we need to discover, if we havent already.

It is important that we understand why people love Facebook so much so we can understand why Facebook is something that should be abandoned. When people point out the flaws in Facebook, the counterargument always uses the positive aspects of Facebook to downplay the negatives. These positive aspects are real for the most part and are not hard to obtain for the average user. But when we are done looking at all that Facebook has to offer, we will see that the bad far outweighs the good. This imbalance is not readily apparent on the surface so we must take the time to examine both sides of the equation.

An Excellent Product

There are numerous ways for people to communicate over the internet, but Facebook is a cut above the rest. This quality is best represented by the fact that people are always using Facebook. Users will typically stay logged into the site for a half an hour at a time and they will log into the site multiple times throughout the day. Not every Facebook user is this loyal, but enough are so that there is always someone to talk to when you log into Facebook.

And what allows those people to visit the network so often is that it is compatible with a wide array of devices. Facebook is available not just on desktops, but also on a variety of smart phones , tablets, and gaming platforms. This compatibility of Facebook with other platforms makes the network easy to access regardless of what machine the user has. As a result people use Facebook whether they are at home, at school, at work, or anywhere else that has a good internet connection.

The ways that people can communicate with each other on Facebook are not one dimensional either There are plenty of different avenues to exchange information on the network other than just simple messaging. While logged into Facebook a user can comment on someones wall, make a post to the Newsfeed, chat in a private session, like another users content, and make use of numerous other features that Facebook gives to its users. This range of ways to communicate expands the type of conversations that can occur on Facebook while keeping the site from getting stale over time. It also shows Facebooks commitment to innovation despite being on top of the market.

And if there happens to be a feature that a user wants that is not present on Facebook, there are always applications that they can download. Applications are essentially programs that provide the user with a unique feature that they may or may not already have access to on the platform they are using. Facebooks Platform allows users to download millions of applications from developers from all over the world. These applications give users more out of the Facebook experience than what Facebook is able to give them. At the same time, the platform also allows application developers to test out their projects on one the most popular social networks on the internet. Everyone, in a sense, gets something out of the deal.

Along with giving users access to an excellent product, Facebook also gives access to it 24/7. Facebook is always available barring any serious mishaps or updates. This constant availability requires a dedication to engineering that other social networks in the past have struggled to accomplish. By going the extra mile however, Facebook gives their users an experience that they can tap into whenever they want. And that means they are going to use it more often than the other sites that go down every time the wind shifts.