Filipinos’ Addiction to Facebook – A Study

SUBMITTED BY:

Herrera, Glenn Joseph L.

Hablo, Rez Michael

Victorino, Vivian

Vicedo, Gracelyn

BSCS II-A

in compliance with the final requirement of the course ENG 6 (Technical Research and Report Writing).

SUBMITTED TO:

Prof. Marco Meduranda

Technical Research and Report Writing Adviser

Navotas Polytechnic College

S.Y. 2010 - 2011

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ABSTRACT

The study aims to determine the effects of Facebook to the Filipino

users, to discuss why Filipinos love Facebook, to know the signs of

Facebook Addiction and to determine the steps how to cope with it.

In the process of researching, the researchers conducted libraries,

Internet and surveys.

This research finds out that aside from being a social trend in the

Philippines, Filipinos love Facebook because of its features which are

really beneficial for its users.

Aside from these, users should be aware of using Facebook for one

may habitually practice Facebook and get addicted to Facebook.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In finishing our technical research, we would like to thank the following:

The Internet, for providing us the best source of information; Malabon

National Library, for helping us to look for the research materials regarding

our research; our parents, for helping us in our financial needs; our

classmates, for their cooperation and support while making this project;

Prof. Marco Meduranda, for giving us advices and suggestions on how

could we make a good technical report. Lastly, we would like to thank our

God, for guiding us in our daily life and for keeping us healthy and safe

every day.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title / Description Page Number

Chapter 1 – Introduction ……………………………. 1Background of the Study …………………… 1Objectives …………………………………… 2Research Question …………………………… 2Importance of the Study …………………… 2Definition of Terms …………………………… 3 - 4

Chapter 2 – Taking a Look at Facebook ..…. 5History …………………………………… 5What is Facebook? …………………………… 5 - 6Facebook Features …………………………… 6 – 11

Chapter 3 – Facebook as a Part of Our Lives….... 12Effects of Facebook to its users ………….... 13

1. Advantages of Using Facebook …. 13 - 142. Disadvantages of Using Facebook 14 – 16

Chapter 4 – Hooked on Facebook ………….... 171. “Why do Filipinos thrive in online social

networks …………………………………… 17 - 192. Facebook Addiction …………………… 19 - 203. Are You a Facebook Addict? …………… 20 – 22

Chapter 5 – Managing Your Addiction …………… 23 – 24

Chapter 6:Conclusion ………………………………..….. 25Recommendation …………………………… 25Bibliography …………………………………… 26 - 28

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Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Nowadays, almost everyone connects through social networking sites.

I’ve heard people tell an acquaintance, “Yeah, I think I’ve seen you in

(insert site here)!”. Surprisingly, that gets the conversation going

especially if you share the same interests as your New Found Friend

(Villaraza, 2007).

Nowadays, online networking is not only about friendship, but also

about different possibilities which it provides to its users. Friendster, which

is one of the social networking sites to look for friends, ones dominates

Philippines in terms of social networking but as we go to the trend,

Filipinos have moved on to Facebook, which is currently the biggest and

the most popular among social networking sites (Abaño, 2010).

It is said that Facebook had become a part of our life. Facebook

provides features which gives benefits to its users. However, as we are

getting hooked to Facebook, becoming a Facebook addict is inevitable.

“Facebook is just so addictive, it’s better to get logged on than to finish my

project in the morning”, a classmate of mine said (Villaraza, 2007).

Hence, the researchers seek for the objectives why most Filipinos are

hooked on Facebook.

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Objectives

1. To determine the effects of Facebook to the Filipino users.

2. To recognize the advantages and disadvantages of using

Facebook.

3. To discuss why Filipinos like Facebook.

4. To know the signs of Facebook Addiction.

5. To find out the steps how to cope Facebook Addiction.

Research Questions

1. To what extent do the Filipinos use Facebook as their social

networking site?

2. Why Filipinos are easily hooked to Facebook?

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Facebook?

4. What are the effects of Facebook to the Filipino users?

5. What will happen to the Filipino users if Facebook will be gone?

6. What are the signs of getting addicted to Facebook?

Importance of the Study

This study is important because it will benefit the following:

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Family It helps them to keep in touch with their

relatives in province and abroad.

Students It can be used as a medium in learning

and teaching.

Definition of Terms

Applications – (a.k.a. Facebook games) are one of the past times in

Facebook.

Facebook – the most popular social networking site in the world which

provides many features to its users

Facebook Addiction – the devotion and habitually or compulsively

playing or visiting Facebook

Habit – a pattern of behavior acquired by frequent repetition

Liker – the term dedicated to a person who “likes” a status, photo,

comment, video or even another page in Facebook

Logged In – a state of being “present” in Facebook

Notifications – allow users to keep track of all the most recent

notifications of his / her friends

Online – a state of being connected to the Internet

Search Engines – are helpful tools in the web browser / websites used

to give you external links to other web pages on the web correlating to the

terms you have typed in it

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Social Networking – a kind of business wherein one socializes with

others via Internet

Status Updates – allow users to post messages for all their friends to

read

Tagging – labeling the part of a photo to one of your friends on

Facebook. You can also tag friends even in videos

Wall – a space on each user’s profile page that allows friends to post

messages for the user to see while displaying the time and date when the

message was written

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Chapter 2

TAKING A LOOK AT FACEBOOK

History

According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook),

Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates

and fellow computer science students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz

and Chris Hughes. The website's membership was initially limited by the

founders to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in the

Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. It gradually added

support for students at various other universities before opening to high

school students, and, finally, to anyone aged 13 and over. The name of

the service stems from the colloquial name for the book given to students

at the start of the academic year by university administrations in the US

with the intention of helping students to get to know each other better.

What is Facebook?

According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook),

Facebook (stylized facebook) is a social network service and website

launched in February 2004 that is operated and privately owned by

Facebook, Inc. It is now the most popular social networking site in the

world which provides many features to its users. As of January 2011,

Facebook has more than 600 million active users. Users may create a

personal profile, add other users as friends and exchange messages,

including automatic notifications when they update their profile.

Additionally, users may join common interest user groups, organized by

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workplace, school, or college, or other characteristics. Facebook allows

anyone who declares themselves to be at least 13 years old to become a

registered user of the website.

Today, Facebook is the biggest social networking website, with millions

of members all over the world. It has even surpassed search engines

when it comes to user views (Berry, 2011).

Facebook Features

The researchers have listed the most commonly used features that

can be found on the Facebook website.

Chat - On April 5, 2008, Facebook pre-released Facebook Chat. As of

April 23, 2008, Facebook Chat was released to the entire Facebook user

base. Users are only able to chat with their Facebook friends and on a

one-to-one basis, although a user may chat with multiple friends

simultaneously through separate chat interfaces. Instant messaging

clients that currently support Facebook Chat include AOL Instant

Messenger, eBuddy, Flock, Miranda IM, Trillian, Empathy, Digsby, Pidgin,

Adium, Nimbuzz, FIM (Windows Mobile / Windows Phone 7), Palringo

(Windows Mobile), Meebo, Tokbox as well as QIP Infium with a Firefox

plugin. Windows Live Messenger 2011 (Wave 4) can connect to Facebook

as well. Facebook Chat can also be run on the desktop using Gabtastik, a

dedicated web chat browser. On May 13, 2008, a Facebook developer

announced that they are working on XMPP support, allowing hundreds of

instant messaging clients to interoperate with the service; this functionality

became operational on February 10, 2010. Some Facebook help article

containing all the information required to connect most popular XMPP

supporting IM clients to Facebook's chat service is available.

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Messages and Inbox - Since the website's founding, it has allowed

users to send messages to each other. A facebook user can send a

message to any number of his/her friends at a time. Deleting a message

from one's inbox does not delete it from the inbox of other users, thus

disabling a sender to redo a message sent by him. On November 15,

2010, Facebook announced a new "Facebook Messages" service. In a

media event that day, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, "It's true that people

will be able to have a @facebook.com email addresses, but it's not email."

The launch of such a feature had been anticipated for some time before

the announcement, with some calling it a "Gmail killer." The system, to be

available to all of the website's users, combines text messaging, instant

messaging, emails, and regular messages, and will include privacy

settings similar to those of other Facebook services.

Networks, Groups, and Like Pages - Facebook allows different

networks and groups to which many users can join. It also allows privacy

settings on basis of networks. Groups are used for discussions and events

etc. Groups are a way of enabling a number of people to come together

online to share information and discuss specific subjects. They are

increasingly used by clubs, companies and public sector organizations to

engage with stakeholders - be they members of the public, employees,

members, service users, shareholders or customers. A group includes but

is not limited to the following: the members who have joined, recent news

contents, wall contents, photos, posted items, videos and all associated

comments of such items. In this respect, groups are similar to pages but

contain more features. Groups are limited to 300 groups per user, though it

is possible to find some users with more than 300 groups because it was

possible to dodge this limit in a few ways, until recently when they fixed

those exploits. The urls of group pages start with

http://www.facebook.com/group... and do not include the name of the

group

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Individuals or companies can create "Like Pages" which allows fans of

an individual, organisation, product, service, or concept to join a facebook

fan club. Like Pages look and behave much like a user's personal private

profile, with some significant differences. Public Profiles are integrated

with Facebook's advertising system, allowing Public Profile owners to

easily advertise to Facebook's users. Owners can send updates to their

fans, which shows up on their home page. They also have access to

insights and analytics of their fan base. Early on, users had the option to

"become a fan" of the page until 19 April 2010 when the option was later

changed to "like" the page. While an individual with a personal profile can

acquire up to 5,000 friends, a "Like Page" can have an unlimited number

of "Likers". "Like Pages" can also be customized by adding new Tabs

using the Static FBML application. This powerful feature can bring

additional functionality to a page such as e-mail collection, specialized

content, or a landing page for sales activity. The urls of "Like Pages" start

with http://www.facebook.com/pages... and do include the name of the

individual etc. liked.

News Feed - On 6 September 2006, Ruchi Sangvhi announced a new

home page feature called News Feed. Originally, when users logged into

Facebook, they were presented with a customizable version of their own

profile. The new layout, by contrast, created an alternative home page in

which users saw a constantly updated list of their friends' Facebook

activity. News Feed highlights information that includes profile changes,

upcoming events, and birthdays, among other updates. This has enabled

spammers and other users to manipulate these features by creating

illegitimate events or posting fake birthdays to attract attention to their

profile or cause. News Feed also shows conversations taking place

between the walls of a user's friends. An integral part of the News Feed

interface is the Mini-Feed, a news stream on the user's profile page that

shows updates about that user. Unlike in the News Feed, the user can

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delete events from the Mini-Feed after they appear so that they are no

longer visible to profile visitors.

Initially, the addition of the News Feed caused some discontent among

Facebook users. Many users complained that the News Feed was too

cluttered and full of undesired information. Others were concerned that the

News Feed made it too easy for other people to track activities like

changes in relationship status, events, and conversations with other

users. This tracking is often casually referred to as "Facebook-Stalking”. In

response to this dissatisfaction, creator Mark Zuckerberg issued an

apology for the site's failure to include appropriate customizable privacy

features. Thereafter, users were able to control what types of information

were shared automatically with friends. Currently, users may prevent

friends from seeing updates about several types of especially private

activities, although other events are not customizable in this way.

With the introduction of the "New Facebook" - in early February 2010 -

came a total redesign of the pages, several new features and changes to

News Feeds. On their personal Feeds (now integrated with Walls), users

were given the option of removing updates from any application as well as

choosing the size they show up on the page. Furthermore, the community

feed (containing recent actions by the user's friends) contained options to

instantly select whether to hear more or less about certain friends or

applications.

Notifications - Notifications of the more important events, for example,

someone sharing a link on the user's wall or commenting on a post the

user previously commented on, briefly appear for a few seconds in the

bottom left as a popup message (if the user is online), and a red counter is

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updated on the toolbar at the top, thus allowing the user to keep track of

all the most recent notifications.

Phone - On September 2010, rumors of a "Facebook Phone" similar to

Google's Android, circulated in business and tech industry news. In an

interview with well-known technology blog Techcrunch, CEO Mark

Zuckerberg was noted to have said, "Our strategy is very horizontal. We're

trying to build a social layer for everything," while denying that they were

attempting to compete with the Apple iPhone or Android.

Poke - The poke feature is intended to be a "nudge" to attract the

attention of another user. Many Facebook users use this feature to attract

attention or say "hello" to their friends. A previous version of Facebook's

FAQ gave additional insight into the origin of the feature, stating: "When

we created the poke, we thought it would be cool to have a feature without

any specific purpose. People interpret the poke in many different ways,

and we encourage you to come up with your own meanings."

There are several applications on Facebook which extend the idea of

the poke feature by allowing users to perform other actions to their friends

—such as "kick" or "wave to". People often reciprocate pokes back and

forth until one side gives up, an event known as a "Poke War".

Status Updates - Facebook has a feature called "status updates" (also

referred to simply as "status") which allows users to post messages for all

their friends to read. In turn, friends can respond with their own comments,

and also press the "Like" button to show that they enjoyed reading it. A

user's most recent status update appears on the user's wall, and is also

noted in the "Recently updated" section of a user's friend list.

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Originally, the purpose of the feature was to allow users to inform their

friends of their current "status" (for example, their current feelings,

whereabouts, or actions) by referring to themselves in the third person (for

example, "George is happy" or "John is with Robert at his house").

However, users are no longer required to write in the third person.

Facebook originally prompted the status update with "Username is..." and

Facebook users filled in the rest. However, on December 13, 2007, the

requirement to start a status update with “is” was removed. The question

"What are you doing right now?" was introduced. In March 2009, the

status update question was changed from "What are you doing right

now?" to "What's on your mind?”

In 2009, Facebook added the feature to tag certain friends (or groups

etc.) within one's status update by adding an @ character before their

name, turning the friend's name into a link to their profile and including the

message on the friend's wall.

URL shortener - On December 14, 2009, Facebook launched its own

URL shortener based on FB.me domain name. From that point on, all

links based on facebook.com can be accessed under fb.me, which are

seven characters shorter.

Usernames - Starting June 13, 2009, Facebook introduced a feature

that allowed users to choose a Facebook username to make user location

easier. The user is able to direct others to their page through a simple link

such as www.facebook.com/username rather than an otherwise complex

URL. This feature on Facebook quickly spread, with more than 1 million

users registering usernames in the first three hours. Usernames are now

available to any existing or newly registered user.

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According to the FAQ, "Facebook reserves the right to remove and/or

reclaim any username at any time for any reason".

Wall - The Wall is a space on each user's profile page that allows

friends to post messages for the user to see while displaying the time and

date the message was written. One user's Wall is visible to anyone with

the ability to see his or her full profile, and different users' Wall posts show

up in an individual's News Feed. Many users use their friends' Walls for

leaving short, temporal notes. More private discourse is saved for

messages, which are sent to a user's inbox, and are visible only to the

sender and recipient(s) of the message, much like email.

In July 2007, Facebook allowed users to post attachments to the Wall,

whereas previously the Wall was limited to text only. In May 2008, the

Wall-to-Wall for each profile was limited to only 40 posts. Recently

Facebook has allowed users to insert html code in boxes attached to the

wall via apps like Static FBML which has allowed marketers to track use of

their fan pages with Google Analytics (Wikipedia, 2011).

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Chapter 3

FACEBOOK AS A PART OF OUR LIVES

Effects of Facebook to its Users

1. Advantages of using Facebook

If you have an account on Facebook, you can actually notice that there

are lots of advantages which you can get from Facebook. Most of us,

Filipinos, think that using Facebook is just like looking for friends, or

playing with the addictive applications in it.

There are 4 main advantages of Facebook. Most of us use Facebook

for certain reasons. These are as follows:

For communication – In one of the discussions in mylot.com,

mimiang, a member of mylot, states that she uses Facebook to

communicate people. She implied that Facebook (particularly to sending

messages) is more convenient than writing letters since her relatives is in

the province and most of her friends are in abroad. Since most of us are

using Facebook, we could also communicate to online friends via

Facebook Chat.

For entertainment - Most of us use Facebook when we’re too bored

and we want to do something in our leisure time. The most popular forms

of entertainment in Facebook are the applications.

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Wikipilipinas compiled the list of mostly played Facebook game

applications. These are the Mafia Wars, Pet Society, FarmVille and

Restaurant City.

For having friends - It is easy and painless to make friends on

Facebook (Helium). Friendster, which is one of the social networking sites

to look for friends, ones dominates Philippines in terms of social

networking but as we go to the trend, Filipinos have moved on to

Facebook. You can search for friends and like what was said a while ago,

you can easily communicate with him / her. There’s even a friend

suggestion which recommends you to add a friend which your fellow

friend has added.

For business - Do you know that you can use Facebook for business

purposes too? “As social marketing has become more of an obviously tier

- one communication channel, educational institutions and self-made

gurus have sprung up to offer insights, advice, and tools for leveraging

them. The Asian Institute of Management has introduced an elective to its

degree programs, focusing on social networks for business. Another

indicator was the use of social networks to coordinate relief efforts in the

aftermath of two devastating typhoons, Pepeng and Ondoy” (Hamlin,

2009).

In addition to letting you socialize and keep in touch with people, these

keep you updated on anyone or everyone’s status. Some people use this

website for business and some of them post announcement if they are in

need of people and help. But always be reminded that not all of you find

on the Internet can be trusted. Alwatys make sure that the job is real and

the people can be trusted. If you are in doubt, make calls and surf for

references or reviews of these companies or people (Magsuci, 2010).

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Education means of using Facebook falls under business category.

To have an overview of what advantages do most Filipino users apply,

the researchers conducted a study with regards the discussions of several

Filipinos on mylot.com about the Filipinos’ use of networking sites

(particularly Facebook). The members of mylot.com came from different

parts of the Philippines. The researchers made a pie graph of what

advantages or main purposes do some Filipino members of mylot.com do

in visiting Facebook.

33%

22%

28%

17%

For communicationFor entertainmentFor having friendsFor business

*Results showed that majority of Filipinos use Facebook for

communication means.

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2. Disadvantages of using Facebook

Aside from the advantages above which a user can have in using

Facebook, you can also get “side effects” or simply bad effects while using

Facebook. These are as follows:

Privacy - Last 2010, people was shocked from Facebook’s removal of

information from profiles. But luckily, it turns out that the removed data has

not been deleted from Facebook’s servers, just made unreachable by the

new interface (NYT, 2010). Most of the people don’t like their personal

information removed from their profiles. A user may let anyone to know his

/ her personal information. According to Beth Day Romulo, it gives her an

uneasy feeling why the facts of her life are instantly available to anyone

without her permission. Her reaction to the fact that this kind of information

is somehow an “invasion of privacy” is becoming more common.

Recently, a group of American college students have gone public, not

with more personal data but with the observation that all that stuff about

them may be a liability when they go to get a job. Who needs to know your

favorite music, how often you go for a beer with friends, whether you ever

drink too much, how you do or don’t score with the opposite sex? This is

not the stuff employer needs to know (Romulo, 2010).

Getting Lazy - We know that technology makes our work easier and

faster, but it makes us lazy and unproductive, and so was our daily use of

Facebook.

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Jason, 42, Account Manager – Kids are getting lazier because it

concerns physical activity, but not otherwise. So have their parents. I think

the reason is that these generations of teens have been raised with so

many technological ways to entertain themselves (internet, texting, video

games, etc.) that they have never acquired the habit of doing physical

things for fun. Not much time to ride bikes, play “patintero” or “tumbang

preso,” or Frisbee, etc. when one is hanging out in the house watching the

big screen while texting and posting on Facebook (Bautista, 2010).

New Communication Patterns - Traditional social communication

patterns have also undergone some changes. Via Facebook, people can

‘talk’ directly to the individuals they like. Facebook diminishes the

embarrassment and anxiety related to real life communication.

The new communication patterns are much straightforward and less

dependent on etiquette and socially-established norms.

The question on researchers’ minds is whether online social

networking allows children to become more connective and supportive to

their friends - or whether the quality of their interactions is being

diminished without the intimacy and emotional give and take of regular,

extended face-to-face time.

Writing in The Future of Children, a journal produced through

collaboration between the Brookings Institution and the Woodrow Wilson

Center at Princeton University, Kaveri Subrahmanyam and Patricia M.

Greenfield, psychologists at California State University, Los Angeles, and

U.C.L.A. respectively, noted: “Initial qualitative evidence is that the ease of

electronic communication may be making teens less interested in face-to-

face communication with their friends (NYT, 2010).

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Habitual Play on Facebook - Another disadvantage is that one may

habitually play Facebook applications. You may think about your farm or

your restaurant even when you’re at work or in a business meeting. You’re

more worried that your plants will wilt and your food will be spoiled.

(Jusay, 2009). You may think of those things other than your real work on

life and even your social relationships with the people.

Continuous and compulsively use of Facebook may cause you to be a

Facebook addict.

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Chapter 4

HOOKED ON FACEBOOK

1. “Why do Filipinos thrive in online social networks?”

According to the article of Philstar, “News Report: RP Population on

Facebook is world’s sixth largest. Several Filipinos of different places was

asked to answer, “Why do Filipinos thrive in online social networks?” The

site was updated last November 11, 2010 – 12:00 AM, and the comments

are categorized into different reasons. These are the following categories:

It’s the Trend - According to Joan Cejes of Makati City, “Kasi yun ang

uso, Tayong mga Pinoy, mahilig sa uso, magpauso at makigaya sa kung

ano ang uso. Sa ngayon, para bang mortal sin kapag wala kang

Facebook, Twitter, etc.”

Text Capital of the World - As said by Robert Young Jr. of San Juan,

“Being the text capital of the world, it’s no surprise that the Philippines

ranks sixth in the most number of users on Facebook. Most cell phones

now even provide a connection to social networking sites. Social

networking provides more interesting features compared to texting and is

usually free with an Internet connection. Pinoys are sociable and have

more time to browse the Internet.”

Room for Opportunities - As stated by Tony Gomez of Parañaque,

“There is not much opportunity in our country and Facebook provides

many opportunities and options.

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Friendly by Nature - On the word of Lolong Rejano from

Mandaluyong, “Simply because we Filipinos are friendly and are fond of

interacting with other people even before modern communication

technology existed. In addition, ang pagiging tsismoso at masayahin pa

nating mga Filipino ay hindi magbabago bagkus pinalawak pa ito ng social

networks gaya ng Facebook.”

Ways of Keeping In Touch - According to Carmela Ramento of

Cagayan de Oro City, “This goes to show that Pinoys love being

connected to friends and relatives everywhere. Is it any wonder?”

According to Nestor Chan of Metro Manila, “Filipinos thrive in online

social networks because this is the new way of keeping in touch with

friends, relatives and acquaintances. Aside from interesting games and

applications, social networks (particularly Facebook) update us with the

goings-on in our loved ones’ lives. We also get to watch their photos, and

videos.

Easy to adapt - Miguelito Herrera of Cabanatuan City states, “It is not

surprising because Filipinos can easily adapt and are always ready to

embrace any kind of advancement in technology, plus we really love

gossip. Facebook was probably created to connect with long-lost friends

and it is an irresistible form of entertainment for people who want to talk

about day-to-day activities and who want to have lots of friends including

celebrities.”

A Different Kind of High - As said by Ruben Viray of Antipolo City,

“Every individual who uses the Internet feels a different kind of joy. It is

also the modern means of communication in the world today. Through

online social networking, Filipinos can easily make friends all over the

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world. They can easily join groups or organizations, local or foreign, to

their full satisfaction and enjoyment. Filipinos, too, are noted for being

happy and friendly people.”

Form of Escape - As stated by Rose Leobrera of Manila, “It’s the only

outlet by which Filipinos can forget the troubles in their lives. When one is

in the Philippines, texting and social media are a way of life. It’s the “in”

thing here. Also, many women wanting ti have husbands use the Net to

find potential partners. The business aspect for me is just on the side,

because not many Pinoys are into business. “Monkey business” pa

siguro.”

Channel of Progress - According to Lucas Banzon Madamba of

Laguna, “Online social networks are not only a means of communication

but also a channel of progress for people.”

Freedom of Expression - On the word of C.B. Fundales of Bulacan,

“Filipinos love freedom of expression and online social networks offer

unrestricted fora for ideas unmatched by even the print and broadcast

media.

2. Facebook Addiction

Are you not getting enough of Facebook, are you bothered of not

getting “logged in” in Facebook in a day or less than an hour? Are you

worried of your plants getting rotten in your farm on Facebook? If all of the

answers on these questions are “YES”, maybe Facebook Addiction has

already infected you.

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Markable.me discussed, “Because there are so many things you can do

in Facebook, it’s not surprising you spend more time in here than

anywhere else. It’s also not impossible to get hooked or addicted. With

those examples and more, becoming a Facebook addict is inevitable.”

According to Elmo Cruz of Manila, philstar.com, “Whatever their

purpose in social networking is, they find communication here easy, fast

and cheap, P10 to P20 per hour in Net cafes. The only problem I see is

that Internet aficionados are getting addicted to it.

The problem is Facebook addiction can get in the way of your normal

life. It becomes much easier to build online relationships than personal

ones. It reduces your work effectiveness and leads to depression and

anxiety if you cannot access it even just for a day (Berry, 2011).

3. Are you a Facebook addict?

The researchers have found out that there certain things to know if a

person is already a Facebook addict.

Do ever find yourself doing the following?

Checking your Facebook profile every 10 minutes

Spending more than half of your day in the social

networking site

Updating your profile and status messages

Adding plenty of friends

Tracking your profile even in your mobile phone

Then there’s a huge possibility you’re already addicted to Facebook

(Berry, 2011).

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In November 25, 2009 issue of Tech 101 – Manila Bulletin, Jusay

discusses the things on “How to know if you’re a Facebook Addict?”

(Jusay, 2009).

1. Your everyday conversations with friends are peppered with

references to Facebook, as in: “wow! Couple X broke up already? I

saw her post it this morning.”

2. Facebook is blocked in your office so you bring your own laptop

with your own broadband connection.

3. You use Facebook Mobile. You surf Facebook even on your phone

and when you feel you’re urge to, which is very OFTEN.

4. You derive immense pleasure in showing off your old photos to

everyone on your friends’ list, even if it takes 12 hours to scan

them.

5. You think about your farm or restaurant even when you’re at work

or in a business meeting. You’re more worried that your plants will

wilt and your foods will be spoiled.

6. Even your friends are amazed at your level of prowess in Facebook

games. You’re the Poker King, master farmer in Farmtown and

gourmet queen in Restaurant City.

7. Google and Twitter come second in your life. FB has reached a

point where it’s more important than work (ouch!).

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8. You’re Miss Facebook Congeniality. You don’t really know too well

half of your friends in your network.

9. You go out of your way to add friends.

10.You attend a party and your standard line is: “add me in Facebook

plz!”

11.You attend a party and your standard line no. 2 is: “say cheese!

This photo is for Facebook!”

12.You update your Facebook status five times a day.

13.You spend 20 minutes thinking of a witty status update.

14.You’re excited about your coming trip to Bahamas (or insert name

of place here). But you’re more excited at the prospect of showing it

all off on FB.

15.You love FB so much, you even grown to love those Facebook ads.

16.You met your boyfriend on Facebook.

17.Facebook has replaced Yahoo Messenger and Googletalk in your

list.

18.You’ve deleted your Friendster account.

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Though we keep the truth, most of us do the same things on Facebook.

There’s nothing wrong with using Facebook, but one must effectively

manage the uncontrollable urge to check it all the time.

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Chapter 5

MANAGING THE ADDICTION

The researchers have looked for the ways on how to cope Facebook

Addiction.

In an article on http://ezinearticles.com, Nelson Berry discussed the

Ways on Reducing Facebook Addiction. Though it may take a while

before you can get rid of addiction, you can definitely do it. Begin with

following tips:

Reduce Facebook Tracking - You can gradually reduce the number

of times you open your Facebook account. For example, instead of

opening it every 10 minutes, you can do so every 30, then every hour,

then every other day, until you can survive not opening at all.

Consider other alternatives - Substitute the time you spend on

Facebook with something else. Rather than sitting there for hours, you

can go to the gym and take a stroll around the neighborhood. You can

pamper yourself by going to the spa or the salon.

Meet up with your friends - You can utilize Facebook to keep in touch

with your friends and schedule meet-ups. After all, the main reason why

you’re using Facebook is you want to reach out people, especially those

you haven’t met for a very long time.

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Activate Facebook blocking applications - An excellent Facebook

addiction self help is to download applications that can block the social

networking website. You can activate it during those times when you need

to work or attend to a very important chore.

Buy a mobile phone with no Internet Capabilities - The truth is you

don’t really need a mobile phone with Internet capabilities. When you have

to stay connected, you can always look for café. Besides, non-Internet-

capable phones are way cheaper and don’t tempt you to download

Facebook applications.

Use self help CDs - There are plenty of self help CDs and self help

tapes that are customized to those people who want to end their

Facebook addiction. Majority of them contain subliminal messages or

affirmations, which provide the inspiration and motivation they need to

never give up.

Share your thoughts - Your friends and family members can help you

eliminate your addiction only if you allow them to. So share your feelings

and ask for moral support.

Managing your addiction to Facebook will not be as easy as one, two,

three. It is like a requirement which tells you to limit yourself from a habit

you always do. One must learn to control himself of having a space

between him and Facebook.

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Chapter 6:

Conclusion

The researchers found out that aside from being a social trend in the

Philippines, Filipinos love Facebook because of its features which are

really beneficial for its users. Filipinos also love the Facebook game

applications which are really enjoyable. But beware from playing it

thoroughly for too much use of Facebook may cause a person to

habitually visit it and later, it causes addiction.

Recommendation

The researchers recommended one must learn how to manage the

time using Facebook or any social networking site and do not let someone

to get addicted to Facebook to prevent addiction. And if a minor user is

about to use Facebook, the parents or guardian should make guidance on

what is the right thing to do in using Facebook.

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Bibliography

Internet Articles

Abaño, K. (February 4, 2011). “Filipinos on Facebook”.

http://angbagongfilipino.wordpress.com/2010/07/07/filipi

nos-on-facebook

Berry, N. (February 28, 2011). “Discovering the Ways to Reducing

Facebook Addiction”. http://www.ezinearticles.com/

?Discover-the-Ways-to-Reducing-Facebook-

Addiction&id=5912365

Aijc ( February 4,2011). “Survey Internet Access”.

http://www.aijc.com.ph/survey-inter

net-access.pdf

Helium (February 4,2011). “How Facebook Affects Society?”

http://www.helium.com/items/1940499-facebook-and-

society-how-facebook-changed-society

Mylot (February 4,2011). “Discussions About Facebook”

http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/2478542.aspx

Philstar (February 4,2011). “News Report: RP Population on

Facebook is the World’s Sixth Largest

http://www.philstar.com/article.aspx? Article id=6289718

publication subcategory id=134

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Stone,Brad ( February 4,2011).”Microsoft to pay $240 million for

stake in facebook

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/technology/24cnd-

facebook.html?-r=2&oref=slogin

Thomas,Crampton ( February 4,2011). “Why Friendster Lost the

Philippines to Facebook?”

http://www.thomascrampton.com/Philippines/friendster-

philippines-social-media-asia

Toral,J. ( February 4,2011). “More than 600000 Filipinos login to

facebook daily

http://www.digitalfilipinocom.ning.com/profiles/blogs/mor

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Wikipedia ( February 4,2011). “Facebook Features”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/facebook_features

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/facebook

Wikipilipinas ( February 4,2011). “Top 10 Facebook Games”

http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?Title= Top-10-

facebook-Games-that-Filipinos-Love

Magazines

Hamlin, M.A. “Social Networks at Work”, Computer World

Philippines. November 2009. Vol.20.No.5.p.10

Romulo, B.D. “Your Life is an Open Book”, Philippine

Panorama.June 20,2010.p.11

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Newspaper Articles

Bautista, Jaye C. “Are the Kids are getting Lazier (part 2)?”, Tech

101, Manila Bulletin.May 5,2010.p.6

_________.“Facebook Apps brings back Data”, Tech 101, Manila

Bulletin. May 5,2010.p.2

Jusay,Annalyn S. “Facebook: The New Frontier”, Tech 101, Manila

Bulletin.November 25,2009.p.6

Magsuci,Malorie D. “How to Improve your Job Search”, Manila

Bulletin Classified January 6,2010.p.BB4

NYT.”Antisocial Networking?”, Tech 101, Manila Bulletin. May

5,2010. p.4

Villaraza,Alexei F.”6 Degrees of Separation in Cyberspace (part

1)”,

Manila Bulletin. October 1,2007. p.D3

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