I have a confession to make: Late at night, when everyone’s asleep, I feed my baby. I feed her things she shouldn’t be eating. My daughter, Zora, likes Gatorade, pizza (if there isn’t too much cheese) and a strange chocolate concoction called Ants on a Log.  What? Isn’t that what babies eat?

The truth is, my “baby” is a Facebook app.  And I’ve been feeding and clothing her since November 07. Weird, huh?

In the past year, I’ve had one friend or another refer to my Facebook activity as “addiction,” expressing frequent, and I would guess, genuine, concern about the time I spend at the site. I’ve also heard them discuss in detail other friends’ so-called addiction. I’ve heard tall tales of staged Facebook “interventions,” self-imposed exiles, and bouts of celibacy.

Some recipients of this grave concern have expressed embarrassment over the perceived time and e

nergy they spend on the site, retreating to a Facebook closet of shame.

My response? Meh.

The fact that Facebook and other social networking tools like Twitter (“you’re always on that thing”) have my attention, speaks to their ability to provide something that is valuable to me. I tend to view what’s happening as integration rather than addiction. I have found a tool that helps me do what I want to do, when I want. Here’s how I use Facebook:
1. To meet more smart people (assuming I am to be considered "smart.")
2. To learn that people I admire from afar are also human and spend quite a bit of time on Facebook, too (Imani Perry, Farah Jasmine Griffin, Lisa Woolfork)
3. To discover other interesting applications and sites that have pushed me to think and be creative
4. To engage in intellectual ly stimulating AND silly conversations
5. To discover that my “work friends” are also smart, creative  women who have voice
6. To keep up with former students and watch their social and intellectual growth
7. To post announcements for events that have attracted folks who would otherwise have missed them—and to find events I would likely have missed.
8. To introduce my smart friends to each other
9. To share news and information that will hopefully stir thoughts and produce conversations and debates
10. To have fun (so far, I’m still maintaining the Make a Baby app; and I’ve taken the “Where Should You Be Living” quiz waaay too many times to mention; but my Black Cred is a solid Erykah Badu).

The bigger question for me is this: Why do we place Facebook in the same category as addictive substances? What does a Facebook intervention look like? Does Ken Seeley appear, staring somberly at the addict, quietly pleading with puppy-dog eyes to "do it for your family?"

Further, into what are you intervening? When and how do we determine what is “too much” Facebook (or Skype, Twitter,  Jaiku, LinkedIn, for that matter)?  Why are we engaging these tools purely on the level of entertainment  that is potentially harmful?  (Do we get some guilty pleasure in associating tech with sin? What are the possibilities AND dangers of integrating our lives with technology?

As for me. I dun need no stinkin’ intervention.

And you can forget about the Facebook closet. I’m burning it down.