Death By Facebook

A recent study published by the American Heart Association indicates each hour spent viewing television increases your likelihood of death by cardiovascular disease.  What does this have to do with Facebook? Tedious Report Spoiler Alert: TV’s not the bad guy, it’s the sedentary lifestyle.  The size and technology of the screen make no difference, nor does the content.  Given that the average user is logged in 55 minutes per day, many of us can now add Facebook to our list of favorite health hazards.  (Perhaps this begins to explain why 1 in 5 teenagers have high cholesterol.)

Our physical health is not the only thing to suffer.  Ironically enough, relationships seem to be negatively impacted as well.  Certainly Facebook is a fantastic tool for communication and connection.  Like any other tool, however, it has potential to cause harm when misused.  I notice the following paradox; in a given week, the more time I spend “connecting” with friends online, the less time I spend actually having coffee with them.  My real, three-dimensional, human interactions are being replaced by time spent watching an interactive reality show starring a cast of my friends.

So what to do? That depends on what you believe is important in life.  Once you’ve nailed that down you can begin figuring out how Facebook and other tools can facilitate those things.  Share the ideas you have.  What will you do to keep your online activity from consuming your life?  How can we interact with you in ways that aid the pursuit of your goals?  Maybe we can figure this out together.  In the meantime, you can find me at facebook.com/stepmorgan.