Facebook in Everyday Life

How does Facebook enter into your everyday life? Is Facebook is part of your everyday activity; is it part of your routine?

The entire survey addresses this question in part, but this section contains the initial direct answers given by respondents.

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Respondent 1

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J: Okay, umb, so how does Facebook come up within your normal, everyday routine, or everyday life?  Is it a routine?

I: Okay, well, I do check it daily, at least once, probably more than that.  I use it kinda for procrastination, I bum around on it, check other people’s Facebook’s, see if they uploaded stuff, it’s just to kill time, I’ve noticed, and it’s distracted me plenty [laugh] so…

J: So it is kind of a daily use, you mention it’s more of a distraction…

I: And it may be open on my web browser, even if I’m not using it, even if I’m writing and essay,

J: okay

I: or something, it’s open there and then maybe I’ll check it

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Respondent 2

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J: So thinking about Facebook, how does it come in to your average everyday life?

I: Umb, it wakes me up, all throughout the night, cause it’s on my phone

J: So your phone sends you messages and stuff?

I: I feel like it kinda can take messages for me, so people who don’t have phones readily available, or don’t have free text messages… [too garbled]

J: So you do a lot of texting and stuff on the phone, do you ever log on to it on a computer?

I: Yeah, to tell my friends happy birthday, and some stuff I feel like reading, I use the phone for just messages, and wall posts, but I use the actual website on the computer for like looking at stuff.

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J: When you visit Facebook—so do you have a routine to it? Or is it just any given time randomly?

I: Well the last couple of weeks I bring my laptop with me, so I was—well I shouldn’t say this, but I’d bring my laptop to Soc and bring it to lecture and check my Facebook. I just check it up and then after I go home from class I go home and do work and log on Facebook.  I go back and forth, click on the minimize button.

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Respondent 3

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J: Okay, so moving on from that, if you were to envision your everyday life, how does Facebook play a role?

I:I think it’s pretty big.  Umb, I go on Facebook every day.  It’s how you keep in touch with everybody, especially in a big campus like this, you can’t really meet people all of the time. You kinda go like ‘hey what’s up, let’s go out sometime.’ Or something like that, and I think it plays a role like a cell phone.

J:Explain that a little further, when you say it’s like a cell phone?

I:There’s a contact list, because you have all of the friends added to your friends list, and that’s a lot bigger than your cell phone list, and even if you don’t have the number of that person you can go on Facebook you can go on their wall and write ‘call me at’ or ‘meet me at’

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Respondent 4

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J: Ok uh, so alright then moving on the current day, which I know is a little bit more on your mind now that you think about it, but what uh, how does Facebook enter into your everyday life on an average day?

I:uh, its funny that um it seems to pop up in conversation a lot more, and its an activity like oh what do you do. Oh, I Facebooked. like so people talk about it. Like, for example, if you’re in a relationship with someone, it’s not serious until you’re in, ya know, in the relationship on Facebook so it’s like, oh Facebook told me they were in a relationship, so it must be serious. Just things like that.

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J: Do you have like a routine, like every day, you get up at 6 am and log on to Facebook and get your coffee and go to class?

I: Uh, no not really. I have kinda a love-hate relationship with Facebook. Uh like, just recently, because I haven’t much to do because of finals, and I’ve been going on Facebook a lot more than I normally would and also because of this new chat feature.

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Respondent 5

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J: Alright, so on an everyday basis what do you use Facebook for?

I:I got on it a lot, because I mean there’s a lot of downtime here, so it’s just like there, on my laptop, I’m always logged on. I just use it to talk to my friends at other schools, from here too, posting pictures, looking at other people’s pictures.

J: Is it part of a routine at all?

I:Yeah kinda, I mean—yeah there are like certain—I always sign on after class, and like at night while doing my homework as a distraction.

J: When you say it’s a distraction and you have down time what do you mean?

I:Well I mean when you’re at your laptop typing a paper you can click one button and you’re on Facebook and I always just click on it to see if anything new happened, if anyone posted on my wall since 5:00 or whatever, I dunno just to see if anyone posted new pictures.

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Respondent 6

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J: Alright.  How do you think Facebook enters into your daily life? If it does, that is.

I:Today?

J:Uh, well in general on a day to day basis, like do you get up, get coffee, and then check your Facebook or something like that?

I:The only reasons I go to Facebook, usually—like if there are groups that have to do with clubs or meetings I’ll check those every once in a while, just to see if anything new is happening. But otherwise, I get emails when stuff happens on Facebook, so if it says like someone sent you a message on Facebook, pictures and posters, someone wrote on your wall, I’ll go to it then, but otherwise I don’t ever specifically go to Facebook.

J: So it’s mostly in response to emails you get?

I:Yeah, so in other words, it’s people initiating things concerning me, not the other way around.

J: So there’s no specific time you’d go check things?

I:Nah.

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Respondent 7

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J: Alright, so what are some of the ways it enters into your everyday life?

I:Oh, when I check my email, it’s right there, it’s like pretty hard to not think about it, it’s pretty addictive.  Some people have to delete their account when they have papers and stuff, so they won’t even try to get on it, they can’t even get on. It’s crazy, umb, I check it, there are sometimes I try not to check it, if I’ve got work I have to do, but sometimes you think you have to get on really quick, “I just have to check my messages” and next thing you know you’re on it for like 2 hours.

J:Is there a routine to it? Do you check your Facebook every time you check your email?

I:Uh, usually, yeah I usually do check Facebook when I check my email.  Sometimes I check my email just to see how much stuff I get to see if I really need to get on, because once you get on it’s kind of hard to get off, so you have to—it’s kind of a big step, is it really worth getting on for that one message?  Or is it okay, I do have a lot of comments, I better see what everyone wrote. So I’ll get on, but if it’s just one thing I don’t have to get on.  But usually I have time.

J:Is there any routine to it?

I:No, not—well I go to class and then pretty much I get on the computer so I guess it is.

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Respondent 8

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J: Okay, so going on to everyday life.  On an average day, what do you do on Facebook?

I:I talk a lot with my sisters, because it’s easier than texting, it’s faster for me to type. I would say consistently it’s just talking to them.  Every once in a while I’ll instant message—or not instant message—but write on the walls of my friends from high school, especially if it’s someone’s birthday, because Facebook can tell you it’s someone’s birthday, it’s a good way to remember all of them.  I sometimes talk to my friends here actually at U of I at Facebook.  I know there’s this Facebook chat, but I’m not really getting into that.

J: Yeah that’s really a new one, we’ll get to that. It’s happened in the midst of the interviews so I’m trying to account for it.  On an average day you catch up with groups of friends, is there a routine to it?  Is there like a get coffee, get Facebook, or is it just random?

I:It’s check my email, check Facebook.

J: So you check your email often then too?

I:Yeah, I check it once in the morning, probably a couple of times during the day, and then probably once a night.

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Respondent 9

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J: So it didn’t seem to appeal to you.  So fast forward to college and you joined Facebook?  When did that happen?

I:About a week into.

J:Was there a specific person who got you on or was it an everybody’s doing it thing?

I:A little bit of both.  The person isn’t important, it was just a friend or something and I got carried away and got on it, got an account.

J:Okay cool.  So how does Facebook enter into your everyday life?

I:Networking tool.  Totally.  [inaudible] I totally use it to keep in touch.  I check it like my email.

J:Like checking your message inbox or is it more than that?

I:Checking inbox, keeping tabs on friends, other people use it to just [inaudible]

J:Okay, so there are a whole bunch of uses, do you have an everyday routine to it?

I:Not really, basically whenever I check my email I check Facebook too.

J:Do you check your email often?

I:Ah, multiple times a day.

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Respondent 10

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J: Do you remember any major differences when you first joined Facebook and now?

I:I mean it turned more into… I feel like when I originally joined it was just your wall and pictures and your newsfeed and now you can put like slide shows into it, and they have all those extra applications, like I don’t know, I don’t usually have them, but like Jet Man, I know they have an Oregon Trail one, all these games, Bumper Stickers, like none of that was there when I started.

J: So you feel like it’s expanded?

I:Yeah, yeah, or maybe I just didn’t know when I started that those things existed.

J:Alright, so I know we’ve already touched on this, but on an everyday basis how do you feel Facebook comes into your everyday life?

I:I just… I feel like it’s as important as email, it became—it used to be people just checked their email and now people check their Facebook then their email.  Or I just spent like an hour staring at Facebook instead of doing homework, using it as a time-waster or a way to get out of your homework. People use it as another form of like—you either call someone, or if you’re too scared to call em you text em and if you’re too scared to text them then you Facebook message them.