Fatal Obsession

Facebook seems to be the grand daddy of all the social networking sites out there these days. It seems like everyone and their mama (even my mom tried to join) has a page. Last year, FB had approximately 350 million members. That's crazy right ?!? What's even crazier is that as a collective, these 350 million members spend 10 billion minutes of their day checking into the site. Now that's A LOT of time!

So, how much time do you spend on Facebook? Are you one of the 350 members that spend countless hours checking in and updating your friends on what's going on in your life? Here are some signs that you may be spending a little too much time on FB :/

1. You login into FB every morning before going to school.

2. You check FB all day, everyday (in the computer lab or on your phone it doesn't matter).

3. You update your status frequently. (I'm pretty sure your friends don't need to know what you ate for breakfast or that you're bored at home watching tv on a Saturday night.)

4. Hours pass before you realize you’ve done nothing but surf Facebook.

5. You pride yourself on having over 200 friends on FB. (Come on now, we all know that you don't know that many people in real life.)

6. You know people by their FB profile.

7. You'd rather send someone a message on FB than call them.

8. You have almost every application on the site. (You're the queen of quizzes and sending gifts)

9. You have have the FB app on your phone, so that you can get instant updates.

10. You spend more time looking through your friend's photo albums than talking on the phone.

Sound a little like you? Do you have a slight obsession with FB? Then you might be a FB addict. It's okay! You're not alone. We understand! It's easy to get caught up, especially when people are making their lives soooooo public these days. But at the same time, FB shouldn't take away from the time you spend on important activities like doing your homework or working on or college apps. You have to find a balance!

Treatment
Now every addiction requires some sort of treatment. Check out the Brownstone FB Recovery Program to help cure your obsession. Some of you may need to enroll today ;)

1. The first step is to admit that you have a problem. Say it with me, "I am a FB addict."

2. Write down exactly how much time you spend on each site.

3. Define your goals on FB. Make a list of what you really want from it. Why did you originally sign up? Find and keep old friends? Meet people with similar interests? Whatever your goals may be on FB, you need to make sure that you devote your time there to accomplishing those goals, instead of going off track with activities that get you nowhere or looking like a stalker.

4. Minimize the time you spend on FB. Give yourself a set time of the day to visit.

5. Stop using FB mobile to update your status etc. Uninstall it from your phone if you have a downloaded version (ie. iPhone, Palm etc.)

6. Turn off email notifications.

7. Think of other things you could be doing with your time spent on FB. When you get the urge to go on FB, call your bff, listen to your iPod (make a FB recovery playlist..lol) or read the Brownstone Blog ;)

8. Start a FB obsessed support group with your friends. You don't have to do the program alone. Ask your friends to help hold you accountable.

9. If steps 1 - 8 don't work, you may need to go cold turkey and leave FB for a while. Read this article to see how some teens defriended FB.

Yes, the road to recovery will be long and hard for many. You may even experience extreme anxiety or withdrawl, but we believe that you can do it! Stay strong and find your inner will power to guide you. Besides there was a life before FB, it was this thing called face to face communication ;) Let's bring it back in 2010!

**Was FB a distraction for you? Did you end up giving it up or minimizing your time on the site? Share how you did it with our readers.

--Tymika Morrison

Brownstone Team