Remy Soni
Daily Illini

Happy belated birthday, Facebook. On Feb. 4, the social networking Web site celebrated its success, since its creation five short years ago. Founder Mark Zuckerberg noted the hard work that went into making Facebook the largest social networking site, overtaking MySpace by about 20 million users. Its impressive results are just a minor aspect when considering just how much Facebook has revolutionized communication.
Simply put, everyone and their neighbor are using Facebook. Originally created for Harvard students, the Web site has gone on to access for everyone over the age of 13. Personally, I think the strides that Facebook has made for keeping in touch with one another are massive, and the Web site is a helpful tool for college students, relatives across the world, co-workers and others. However, it makes one wonder. Whatever happened to talking to someone in person or even on the phone?
It seems that either one of these methods of communication is now associated with the Dark Ages. A couple of weeks ago, I saw someone pushing buttons on her cell phone and thought that she was either trying to text message someone or was looking through her directory for a number to call. Wrong. Her Web-enabled phone allowed her to access Facebook, have an instant chat and write on a friend’s wall.
Why not just use the phone to call your friend? It’s amazing just how much we place convenience over more personal interaction. In some instances, it has gotten to the point where people would rather write on someone’s Facebook wall when they’re in the same room as that person.
Call me old-fashioned, but I’m really questioning the logic behind that.

Remy Soni is a columnist for the University of Illinois Daily Illini, distributed through U-WIRE