Timesink
A timesink is an activity that consumes a significant amount of time, often without the person caught in the timesink realizing that such a length of time has passed while they were distracted by the timesink.
In my own personal experience with timesinks I have identified several online timesinks. MySpace, ICanHasCheezburger, and most recently Facebook. These are sites where the unsuspecting user will log into the website intending to spend only a few moments and then - without realizing it - an hour, then two... an entire afternoon and or evening has passed by.
Timesinks are bad. They can cause you to put off work. While it might seem convenient to connect with friends and family via Facebook, look at what you have to do for that connection.
You log into the site and visit the "news feeds" section where a jumble of activity greets you. Everything your friends have done on Facebook lays open for you to look over. Who they befriended, what groups they made or joined, what images they have uploaded... it is all there, waiting for you to look over.
One you get through there you need to check the "Status Updates" section to make sure you did not miss any updates in the news feed. And trust me, there's always stuff in one that is not in the other, so you have to check them both.
Finished commenting and chattering and you now have to go to your profile page to "check your wall" for any messages that might have been posted there. Another half an hour spent reading and responding....
Do you have any private messages/e-mail? That's on another screen... has anyone asked to be your friend? Has anyone asked to add your birthday to their datebook? Have you been sent something by someone? Were you tagged in any pictures that someone posted? Did someone post a note and tag you in it?
There is an endless array of things you need to check and when you are all through ... you start over from the beginning. Just to be sure you did not miss anything, to see what was added since you started...
It is a nasty cycling timesink. The new drug of the internet that sucks you in and addicts you and entices you to stay... just one more minute. Oh... look here.... and here...
And... how many ads did you click on because you can not tell the difference between an advertisement and the website content? I clicked on three in a single half hour segment before catching on to the fact that those "You have a message!" and "Someone sent you a hug!" deals at the top and bottom of the content were not part of Facebook. They look like they are, they have the same scheme and fit very well into the layout, but they are advertisements.
I have broken the addiction. I have better things to do with my time than waste it in the Facebook timesink.
In my own personal experience with timesinks I have identified several online timesinks. MySpace, ICanHasCheezburger, and most recently Facebook. These are sites where the unsuspecting user will log into the website intending to spend only a few moments and then - without realizing it - an hour, then two... an entire afternoon and or evening has passed by.
Timesinks are bad. They can cause you to put off work. While it might seem convenient to connect with friends and family via Facebook, look at what you have to do for that connection.
You log into the site and visit the "news feeds" section where a jumble of activity greets you. Everything your friends have done on Facebook lays open for you to look over. Who they befriended, what groups they made or joined, what images they have uploaded... it is all there, waiting for you to look over.
One you get through there you need to check the "Status Updates" section to make sure you did not miss any updates in the news feed. And trust me, there's always stuff in one that is not in the other, so you have to check them both.
Finished commenting and chattering and you now have to go to your profile page to "check your wall" for any messages that might have been posted there. Another half an hour spent reading and responding....
Do you have any private messages/e-mail? That's on another screen... has anyone asked to be your friend? Has anyone asked to add your birthday to their datebook? Have you been sent something by someone? Were you tagged in any pictures that someone posted? Did someone post a note and tag you in it?
There is an endless array of things you need to check and when you are all through ... you start over from the beginning. Just to be sure you did not miss anything, to see what was added since you started...
It is a nasty cycling timesink. The new drug of the internet that sucks you in and addicts you and entices you to stay... just one more minute. Oh... look here.... and here...
And... how many ads did you click on because you can not tell the difference between an advertisement and the website content? I clicked on three in a single half hour segment before catching on to the fact that those "You have a message!" and "Someone sent you a hug!" deals at the top and bottom of the content were not part of Facebook. They look like they are, they have the same scheme and fit very well into the layout, but they are advertisements.
I have broken the addiction. I have better things to do with my time than waste it in the Facebook timesink.
posted by Sandra at 5:44 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home