Has Facebook taken over your life?

Two people, who haven’t seen each other since they left school, bump into each other one fine day in the shopping mall.  After exchanging the customary “How are you?” and “Where are you working now?” greetings, they say their goodbyes and one of them asks, “Hey, are you on Facebook?”

Sounds familiar?

Truth is, almost everybody who is anybody is on Facebook nowadays.  It is like the one-stop location we go to when we are online.  The question is, how much of your life has been Facebooked?

A long time ago, I was hooked on Facebook, but the excitement sorta fizzled out prematurely and I’d forgotten all about it until recently when a fellow blogger-friend asked if I played CafeWorld.  I told her yes, and she asked if she could add me to her Neighbor list so that she could expand her cafe. Why not, I thought…

…and I was hooked.  Not only on CafeWorld but I reignited my love for Farmville too.  My dear farm was getting too neglected, I thought.

• Facebook is replacing emails because we can send personal messages to our Facebook friends, without even needing to remember their email addresses.
• Facebook can remind us of our friends’ birthdays.
• “Busybodies” can use Facebook to find out who is *involved in a relationship* with whom, and who is *married to* whom, subject to what your friends are revealing about themselves.
• Many bloggers have abandoned their blogs and instead switched to Facebook for quickie updates and pictures.  It has come to a point where bloggers are now using Facebook as an extension of their RSS feeds where they can tell everyone that there is a LATEST POST on their blogs.  I recently found out that my old schoolmate is now following my blog because she saw my LATEST POST update on my Facebook profile.
• Facebook users can comment on posts and status updates in whatever way they want.  And if they have nothing to say, they can simply click the “Like” link.  Tell me you haven’t done that before 😛
• People play all sorts of games on Facebook, without needing to install stuff on their computer like the days of yore.
• If you ask for stuff on Facebook, there is a high possibility you will get it.  Like if I ask for say some Easter eggs, err…make that RED easter eggs, I can count on my Farmville buddies to send me a few.  How nice if this were real life, and I can simply send out an email asking people for stuff.
• Facebook is being used to sell and promote stuff…and of course, advertising too.  Lots of online stores have Facebook links and special discounts and promotions are passed on through the Facebook channel.
• Facebook has helped so many people around the world hook up with their long lost whoevers…although these people might just be passively viewing each other’s statuses and playing games with each other, well….that’s interaction for ya.

So are you all caught up with this Facebook hype?  Is Facebook eating up blogging, or has it already done so?

Well, while you ponder on that, let me quickly go harvest my perfect bunch of red tulips and check on my Ginger Plum Pork Chops before I call it a night. 🙂