[raysachs]

I'm a "social" drinker of Facebook. Never did have a problem with it, just use it a bit to stay in touch with folks.

Frankly, I think guitar forums are a MUCH bigger problem for me than Facebook ever was. There, I just stay in touch with a few people I'm happy to stay in touch with. But HERE I'm encouraged to consume, consume, consume, and consume some more. I check in with Facebook maybe once a week or so. I'm on 4-5 guitar forums that I check in on a few times each DAY! And to some productive purpose - I do learn useful things here.

But the MAIN thing these forums do is feed completely un-needed GAS. I have two acoustic guitars I love (and I probably wouldn't have either if I hadn't learned about them here) and two electric guitars I'm totally happy with (that I also learned about on other forums). I don't need or want any other guitars. But when I'm browsing around on the forums, I regularly FORGET that I don't need or want any other guitars. It's ALWAYS FEEDING IT!!!

It's a bit of problem - not a big one, not an unmanageable one, but it is one. I've bought guitars I didn't need only to like them a lot, but realize I had no need or even really want for them, and I've returned them. This does nobody any good! Me or the shops involved. I'd quit, but I enjoy the interactions, and, as noted, I DO learn useful stuff on these forums too.

So I can't condemn Facebook as some unbridled evil when I spend far more time and money around guitar forums than I ever would there. In fact, now, when I go to FB, the main thing I have to do is clear out all of the freaking guitar ads to get to the people I care about.

Lets all have a look in the mirror a little bit, eh?