Question of the Day: Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?

I saw this question today posted on LinkedIn with an article and I can honestly say that placing the blame on Facebook is fairly ridiculous.

Are people living out their lives through relating to others online? Yes.

Whose fault is that?

Sorry folks, the truth is that each person has to accept responsibility for their own loneliness. Want to do something with people? Go find people.

Have game night, have movie night, go to a friend's house and pound on the door until she gets off the computer.

I know it's hard because we're so used to getting our information about people online, but if we're not getting together, Facebook didn't do that. We may have an easy avenue to relate to one another, but Facebook isn't real.

You won't see the best, the worst, and everything in between about a person on Facebook. It's a few lines, a few pictures, a list of interests, and a nice compilation of events and correspondence out for viewing. It's not a friendship or relationship, it's a person transmitted across the internet so that you can see things about someone you know.

Facebook doesn't let you hear the way your friend laughs when you say something funny, or what she looks like curled up on the couch with a book on Saturday. It doesn't tell us what a person is really feeling or how they're doing at work or at home. It's a summary and it's not enough to carry on a healthy friendship with anyone.

We can't blame technology for giving us convenience but we can blame ourselves for not putting that technology down.

I'd much rather check in on Facebook when I'm tired and not interested in doing anything else. If I have someone to hang out with or something to do. I am busy creating memories, not sitting around reading someone else's.