By: Benjamin E. Lykens (Whetstone Staff Writer)

I’m a very private person. I don’t go out of my way to give my personal information or opinion.

However, I’m making an exception to my own rule by writing my opinion on the social “epidemic” that is Facebook.

My wife is pro-Facebook and I’m anti-Facebook.

If I had a dollar for every time we’ve argued about Facebook I’d actually be able to afford to go to this college.

Everyone I’ve ever talked to about Facebook seems to say the same things. It’s like a broken record. Its either, Oh, I have an account but I never use it, or, I just have one to keep all of my pictures, or, I only have an account because I want to keep in touch with friends and family.

Each of these reasons has an answer. If you never use it, then delete it, buy an external hardrive for your thousands of pictures and pick up the phone to keep in touch with your family.

Since when did everyone’s life become so important that each person writes a detailed account of every single thing they do in their lives?

The part of this that is the most disturbing is that people actually read this crap – commenting and giving their opinions on other people’s opinions. It seriously is sickening.

Everyone thinks they’re an expert.

I’ve met so many people who have an opinion or an answer to every single little thing that has ever happened in the world.

If you have a rash or something, they know what it is. They may not be a doctor but sure enough they’re an expert.

This is exactly what Facebook is a lot of times. An entire legion of experts whose lives are so damn special.

I’m not just making this stuff up either.

Sophomore Lauren Johnson said that she used to be pro-Facebook until she got tired of reading about everyone’s problems.

“I used to like it but I deleted it because everyone used it as an online journal to complain about everything,” Johnson said.

Not to mention the rumors that have been out there about Facebook retaining the rights to all of the photos that you post on your page.

They also follow what pages you visit so that they can track what kind of things you like and they advertise to you accordingly.

I don’t know about anyone else but I don’t like the idea of people looking in and following what I do on a regular basis.

But that’s exactly what our society has become today. Look at reality shows. They get followed around and get millions of dollars to be idiots.

God bless America. Seriously God please bless America because our country seems to be going down the tubes.

Soldiers hardly make enough to get by but Snooky makes millions. An argument for another day perhaps.

But what we don’t see as a society is that all of our negative actions lead to other negative actions and nobody seems to be willing to speak up about it.

Well, disliking Facebook is not the popular opinion but I’m taking a stand.

I say no to all of the mindless comments, unnecessary drama and useless information that are spewed out on Facebook every second.

Read a book – hell, even watch a good movie.

It’s an addiction and deleting your Facebook is the first step to recovery.