John Lennon once famously quipped that the Beatles were ‘more popular than Jesus.’ Now it seems that Facebook has usurped that mantle!
Read more: School’s Facebook post about kids’ ideal bedtimes draws cheers, jeers
The Gospel according to Mark…Zuckerberg?
It’s no secret that Americans love social media.
Some 56% of us read our Facebook feed at least weekly, according to the Pew Research Center. Meanwhile, the latest numbers about religion in America show that only 26% of us read the Bible regularly. That’s according to a study commissioned by the American Bible Society (ABS).
Regular Bible reading was defined as four or more times a week for the purposes of the ABS study.
With all that time we’re spending on Facebook, it’s no surprise some of us are becoming addicted. As in literally addicted.
According to a study published in Psychological Reports, using Facebook activates parts of the brain called the amygdala and the striatum. The former helps establish the significance of events and emotions, while the latter is involved in the processing and anticipation of rewards.
‘The findings indicate that at least at the examined levels of addiction-like symptoms, technology-related ‘addictions’ share some neural features with substance and gambling addictions,’ the researchers wrote.
Of course, it’s not all bad! There’s no doubt that Facebook can be a great tool to keep in touch with family and friends. You just want to be sure that you’re staying safe while you’re checking your Facebook feed!
Keep the following in mind…
Don’t share your Social Security number on Facebook!
It sounds crazy, but some 7% of people have posted their Social Security number on social media, according to a report released during Visa’s 2013 Global Security Summit.
‘Sharing such sensitive information on a social network…demonstrates a misunderstanding of how easily information can be consumed on social media platforms,’ the Visa report noted. Don’t let this be you!
Beware of pyramid schemes on Facebook
One of the more popular pyramid schemes on Facebook is the ‘Secret Sister’ scam. With this scam, you’re told you’ll receive up to 36 gifts in about 14 days if you’ll send one gift valued at $10 and spread the word about the offer. But Snopes.com busts this one as a scam with a big, fat red ‘X’ of shame.
Look out for lottery scams
You’re told you’ve won a lottery, but you need to either pay money or divulge sensitive account info to claim the winnings. If you take the bait and send some money in, you get put on the ‘sucker’ list. That marks you to receive future calls or solicitations about other alleged lottery winnings.
Free ticket offers are a ‘no fly’ zone
Two free airline tickets? And all you have to do is share a photo, like a page and post a comment to win?! Sounds great, sign me up…
Not so fast…You may have seen one of these offers sent to you by family or friends on Facebook. But guess what? There are no free tickets. The airlines supposedly offering them will tell you the ‘promotion’ is a scam set up by criminals. The whole thing is just a way to capture info from you and get your permission in the terms of service to spam you relentlessly with various offers.
Read more: Fired for a Facebook post before the first day on the job
