Facebook

I love Facebook as much as the next person. I have had an account for almost four years now. I joined “back in the day” when you had to attend one of the participating schools and the web address was www.thefacebook.com. I was one of the first few hundred people at SPU to have an account. I know – it’s actual kind of pathetic when you think about it. Anyway, the point is that I am by no means anti-Facebook.

I appreciate that I can keep in touch with people I haven’t verbally talked to in awhile. I can share pictures with my friends and update the world on my every move. I can stalk people I am currently crushing on and those who I am annoyed with. Facebook is a noun and a verb in my life. I Facebook people, I have been Facebooked, and I am currently Facebooking. It’s such a strange concept to think that this little networking site didn’t exist just five years ago and now it’s a part of my daily life.

So, what has inspired my rambling thought on Facebook you may ask? Well every morning when I get ready for work I turn on the news – well rather a morning show of some kind, The Today Show, Good Morning America, or The Early Show. Today was The Early Show because both ABC and NBC were interviewing the dude from Illinois who everyone wants to impeach and I was sick of hearing about it. CBS was giving some brief overviews of foreign headlines so I left it there when I decided what to wear for the day and put on my make-up.

The news report that was broadcast next made me laugh out loud and kind of made me angry. Apparently the breaking news out of the UK (according to The Early Show) was that Prince Harry (the younger, pot-smoking, military decorated brother of the future king of England) was dumped by his long-time girlfriend over the weekend. This news in itself is not so upsetting or such a surprise, I’ve come to accept and expect celebrity reports on the news. It’s the society we live in today. What did shock me was when they revealed their source – Facebook.

That’s right ladies and gentlemen. Facebook can not only keep you updated on the relationship status’ of your real-life friends and acquaintances, it can also be considered a viable news source just like Wikipedia.

I have had friends prove the point of how ridiculous Facebook can be by changing their status’ and watching everyone “freak out” about their new relationship (or whatever else they decide to post). It’s funny to watch and see everyone’s reactions to a false update, but it’s also kind of dumb and proves just how childish Facebook can be – but what is just idiotic to me is the world news reporting on a break-up and quoting Facebook as their source.

Now, I will say that I did a little more research on this. I googled (another online application that is now used as a verb) The Early Show and Prince Harry and discovered a longer version of the report. In this one, they don’t state the source of their information, but quote Facebook as evidence of its validity – apparently Harry’s ex-girlfriend changed her status to single over the weekend. This is a little bit better, but still not the high class journalism that one should expect from legitimate news shows.

I guess what’s really bothering me is why I am not Facebook friends with Princes Harry or William and the reporters at The Early Show are?