Alright people, admit it. We’ve slipped at some point or another.

You get home from the pub at 2:30 a.m. and you know you should just go to bed because you have class or work in a few hours. But instead, you piss away the next half hour or so puttering around on Facebook looking at random pictures - mindlessly filtering through your friend’s cousin’s boyfriend’s photo album entitled “summer fun 09,” or scoping out profiles for the latest gossip from old high school friends, or staring at the screen trying to think up a witty status update. Then you pass out with all your clothes on and wake up slightly embarrassed.

Maybe that’s being a tad melodramatic for the majority of experiences, but we can all at least identify with wasting a hell out a lot of time on that blood sucking time vampire, right?

And the question - why we do such things - is some something most people can identify with as well. Why is it so common for everyone to go straight to Facebook whenever we turn on our computers or cell phones? Why are we continually spiraling towards an increasingly impersonal way of keeping in touch with our friends and family?
It’s a tough question because Facebook is the rapidly becoming the ultimate anomaly. Really, it’s such a beautiful part of globalization that allows individuals to keep in touch with family friends that they’d otherwise likely lose contact with.
In this light, it has probably helped preserve or even strengthen millions of relationships since its social debut. Moreover, recently it has motivated tens of thousands of Canadians to become politically active over the undemocratic actions of Stephen Harper and the prorogation issue.

At the same time, it also may be that it has contributed to the destruction of many relationships. While situations like “She went to the bar last night??  She told me she was sick!! My life is ruined. Damn it all to hell!” or “Seriously, they didn’t invite me to that Facebook event?” are fun to joke about, it’s likely that in reality they put unnecessary strains on relationships.

From the left there’s a big push against Facebook in social commentary magazines like Adbustesrs, which utilizes its self-deprecating prowess to make the average socially conscious individual feel bad about jumping on the social bandwagon. And maybe they’re right, since it’s common amongst Facebookers to be upset with themselves about how much they use it, and a large portion talk constantly about cutting down on their time spent on it.

There’s a real and personal Facebook war raging out there folks. We tend to dislike our Facebook habits, but we also secretly check if we have any wall posts in public settings when our friends aren’t looking. “I just need to sneak a quick peak, it’s not a problem, just this one time and I’m done. I NEED IT.” Like an addict? Get it?

My solution to all those people who hate themselves for using Facebook is this: Shut up and get on Twitter.

Hell yeah! Twitter! Share and discover what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world. Instead of profile creeping, you can share mindless comments about important events and that’s all people will see.

What to say about Barack Obama’s health care summit? “Barack Obama is a capitalist, he’s just a part of the system, MAN.” Take that Barack Obama!

The bottom line is that it keeps people connected. If people are becoming slaves to it for social communication, that says something about the individual, not the social networking site. If you can’t get over your troublesome habits that develop from one site, just switch to a new one that doesn’t allow you to practise them in the first place.

Matt Austman is a politics student at the University of Winnipeg