Socializing in a Social Media Era

After reading the article titled "Gender Differences in the Use of Facebook," it makes me think about what I used to do before I started dividing my time between school, social networking, and friends. Yes, facebook is a part of my usual daily routine, I would say I probably check this site and twitter about five times a day, if not more. I recently read a good blog on how college students can balance their time between social networking, school, and studying. From what I got out of it you need to sort out your priorities and create a good balance to better harmonize your life.

A few of the benefits that I have gained from social networking are being able to connect with old friends or family members that I get to see only a few times a year. I also use mine to share videos, thoughts, and to keep up to date with what is going on in everyone elses lives. I like to think of it as an online news spot for things that you find important. For example, I studied abroad in England for a semester and met locals while over there. I now can use my facebook to keep in touch with them and find out what is going on in their lives. Two of my friends from there are already pregnant and one is married, things I would have not been able to find out otherwise unless for this social networking site.

There is also the big issue of if social media is really a good way to interact with others vs. time spent interacting with someone face to face. Though social networking is nice to have to keep in touch with others, I believe that a good amount of time needs to be divided between spending time with others face to face vs over the internet. There are gender differences in facebook usage also, women are more likely then men to post photos and post comments. While men are more likely to post links and videos to their profiles. I find myself doing about both of these gender differences equally though. Also the fact that women are more likely than men to communicate with friends who live in a different country, comes into play when I think about my friends I have stayed in touch with from England. I wonder, what are some other users facebook habits? Do you agree or disagree with the standard gender differences?