Facebook as marshmallow
Facebook has 350 million members worldwide who,
collectively, spend 10 billion minutes there every day, checking in
with friends, writing on people’s electronic walls, clicking through
photos and generally keeping pace with the drift of their social world.
Walter Mischel, a professor of psychology at Columbia University, who studies self-control and willpower, performed a now famous experiment in the 1960's where he tested children's ability to delay gratification. He put before them what he called "hot" temptations. In this case it was marshmallows. He found some could resist the temptation but many others could not.
Facebook is the marshmallow for teenagers today. There are some who can resist, but many others are finding it extremely difficult to do so. As a result they spend hours upon hours on the site at the detriment of more important priorities, like study. read more>