> I can say that if Zuckerberg didn't invent Facebook in ~ 2004, it would have been invented by now, by someone else because that was what people needed badly t

> I can say that if Zuckerberg didn't invent Facebook in ~ 2004, it would have been invented by now, by someone else because that was what people needed badly to stay connected. What does "stay connected" mean? Is having a larger number of weak connections better than a smaller number of strong connections? Are online connections as meaningful and satisfying as offline connections? I'm always somewhat skeptical about psychology studies for a number of reasons, but the studies that have been conducted on Facebook and online social networking are consistent enough to suggest that your argument warrants deeper analysis. Many of these studies, like this one[1], find that Facebook increases feelings of loneliness and unhappiness. I think you should consider that Facebook and services like it implicate a number of human emotions and desires, many of which are not always a positive influence's in one's life if indulged without limit. That doesn't mean that Facebook is without positive value, but I think its success is a lot more complicated than it "connects you with people that you don't see daily, lets you know about birthdays, events, comments and what not." [1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2419419/All-lonely-Facebook-friends-Study-shows-social-media-makes-MORE-lonely-unhappy-LESS-sociable.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2419419/All-lonely-F...