Online antics

My academic demise will probably be a 15-inch blank screen. No, not my TV. My computer. \nNever having a computer in my room, I had no idea how distracting it would be until I came to college. It starts off simple enough. Let me just check my e-mail for five minutes. While I'm at it, why don't I go on Facebook for five minutes? And since I'm doing that how about I just sign on to instant messenger and catch up with some friends for five minutes?\nBefore I know it, I've spent two hours on my computer, and I can't even figure out what exactly I was doing.\nI'm well aware I'm not alone in my e-addiction. I'm also well aware I am in no way the worst of the e-procrastinators. I have two guy friends who spent four hours playing each other in online computer games when they should have been writing papers. \nWith so many pointless yet amusing Web sites catered to people our age, one can't help but pass the time away in front of the computer screen. \nBut sometimes it's a bit out of hand. \nTake Facebook.com for example. Who are my e-friends? I don't know half the people on my "friends" list. Are people really that bored that they spend precious minutes of their youth reading peoples' profiles and sending them "friend" requests only to never speak to them again?\nDesperate date beggars are also another Facebook endemic. The typical attempted e-courtship attempt starts off with a poke, then a friend request, then a message. I prefer to poke the person back, accept the "friends" request then remove them later (yes, I'm bad I know) and politely decline the date offer in the message. Most of my friends tend to do the same thing. Of course it's always good entertainment to mock all the Facebook e-romeos. \nSave yourself the humiliation, guys. Don't beg for dates online. Instant messenger is another popular e-socialization method. I find myself talking to a friend on the computer for hours, and then think, why didn't I just call her? \nIt's also a popular harassment tool. I went to a very preppy high school with very "Laguna Beach"-esque drama queens. I frequently had to listen to girls whine about how someone with a screen name they didn't recognize had been sending them nasty messages. Then there was the classic battle move: instant messenger espionage. \nIt would go something like this: Girl A would ask Girl B to message Girl C and get some sort of dirt or socially incriminating evidence. Girl B would do it and make a print up, then Girl A would confront Girl C with it at school the next day. The resulting fights were just as good as any "Laguna Beach" drama. \nSure, the Internet is fun and useful most of the time. But when people take what should be real-life reality and transfer it to the online world, they're just making everything more complicated than it has to be. And more importantly, it's all just a sad waste of time.