After an eight-hour day at school, most high school students return home with various tasks to do. In search of an activity to wind down, students turn to the Internet, where they commonly find amusement on Facebook.
Facebook, a social networking site, allows students to entertain themselves with games, quizzes, applications and friends. Facebook gained a population greater than that of the United States — reaching over 500 million active users as of July of this year, according to The Facebook Blog.
According to Examiner.com, the average user spends up to 55 minutes a day on Facebook, which amounts to over 30 hours a month. Facebook and Twitter, a micro-blogging site, ranked as the top networking websites in 2008.
Users of Facebook may spend hours going through the different apps and looking at friends’ pictures. Aliciana Quintana, ’14, would even go so far as to consider herself “an addict.”
“I would call myself an addict,” Quintana said. “Usually, if I’m done with my homework, I go on Facebook. I go on about four times a week. I usually just talk to my friends, look at pictures and stuff like that.”
Facebook offers not only pictures and friends, but also apps like Flair. Flair allows users to “add” to their profile different buttons, which often portray sayings, pictures or jokes.
“I like Flair because they are fun to look at and read,” Quintana said. “The ones I like best have cool pictures, sayings or things related to my favorite movies and music artists.”
Games are another popular app on this site. Jordan Boudreau, ’13, favors a game called Crazi Taxi. In this game, users race a car while swerving left and right around cars going the opposite direction. Boudreau momentarily held the top rank in the world on this game, he said.
“It only took me 10 minutes to score top in the world,” Boudreau said. “I was bored and there was nothing to do. I started playing and didn’t stop until I won. It was fun because it’s a racing game. Now that I look back on it, I realize it was kind of stupid to play those games all the time.”
While these games can be fun, some may also have the potential to infect computers with viruses or other dangers. Junior Chandler Vargas experienced this problem when trying to play a game on Facebook.
“I want to play games,” Vargas said. “The last time I tried, it gave my computer a virus, and Mom got mad. When I do play, I play the Questions game, and sometimes poker. I like them because they help pass time and keep my attention when there is nothing to do.”
One of the most widely known Facebook games is FarmVille, an activity which allows users to own a vitual personal farm where they can plant crops and raise animals. Joshua Thao, ’14, enjoys playing this game because it provides a break from homework.
“I love FarmVille,” Thao said. “I get to interact with the different users and my friends. I’m not very good at it, but I like making and adding to my farm.”
Although many people join Facebook, not everyone spends time on apps. Sophomore Kristen Rosenthal says she only joined Facebook to stay connected with friends and family.
“I have a Facebook to keep in touch with my friends, the ones that I don’t get to see enough at school or outside of school,” Rosenthal said. “It’s more important to spend time on sports, homework, chores and getting exercise.”
Facebook is free and is available to anyone who has access to the Internet.
For more information on popular websites, read the March 9 article, Four Web sites every teen should know.
