6 Pros and Cons of Facebook

For most of us, Facebook has been a gift. Where else can you get updates on family and friends as well as the world around us? The social media site has become a place where everybody shares – EVERYTHING. Well, almost anyway. Not only is it a hub to chat and catch up with friends – both old and new – but it’s also become a place to meet people. Even wanting to know what’s going on in your local area and around the world is done through Facebook.

Put simply, Facebook has become ingrained into our lives – most of us anyway. For some, it’s hard to imagine a world where it’s just not present. But despite bringing benefits to the lives of people around the globe, Facebook has drawn some criticism as well. Take a look at the pros and cons of this social media giant.

List of Pros of Facebook

1. It connects us to people.
It’s not unusual for people to have family and friends all over the globe these days. The power of Facebook lies in being able to bring all those you love and care about together, even if just in digital space. In the past, the chat feature of the network was one of its most popular tools. Now, the social media platform allows you to communicate through video. Through these options, it’s now easier for us to know the activities – sometimes even daily – of people we know.

2. It is a hub of discovery.
While most would use Facebook to get and keep in touch with others, a certain number of users utilize it for information gathering. For example, Facebook will suggest a couple more similar-themed articles once you’ve liked one. While the suggestions aren’t always 100% accurate, it’s pretty useful once it hits the mark.

The Groups feature of Facebook is also a useful tool for learning new things. You can join groups centered around what interests you and from there participate in discussions and even make new friends.

3. It allows you to choose who to connect with.
While some may take offense about a rejected friend request, the whole purpose of products like Facebook is you decide which people you want to communicate with and whose updates appear on your feed. The network also has Lists so you can see all updates from your favorite people or brands because there’s a chance you’ll miss this because an algorithm decides what appears on your feed.

List of Cons of Facebook

1. Your feed is decided by an algorithm.
The posts you see on your feed are based on what you’ve interacted with. However, just because you’ve liked photos of babies doesn’t mean you should be bombarded with them. This is why some prefer the straightforwardness of Twitter: presenting updates in reverse chronological order – admittedly, this might throw off some users.

2. You can waste time on the network.
You can fall into a rabbit hole and sometimes it’s just too hard to get out of. Facebook offers games too which, truthfully, can be quite addicting. As such, using Facebook is an exercise in self-control.

3. You can be a target for trolls and mean people.
We as humans have always valued the idea of being able to express our ideas. But doing so also opens us up to the possibility of being targeted by people who want nothing more than to inflict harm on others. The good news is that you can report abusive accounts and hope Facebook responds accordingly.