Addicted to Facebook, or the Feeling?

Upon reading "Pinterest, Tumblr and the Trouble with 'Curation'"  by Carina Chocano, I began thinking critically not about how much time I spend doing seemingly pointless activities such as social networking, but why.  Chocano states in her article: "This is, I think, what these sites evoke:  the feeling of being addicted to longing for something; specifically being addicted to the feeling that something is missing or incomplete."  This seemingly simple sentence could go by without a single thought to another reader, but this statement caused me to assess my feelings towards how it is possible for me to spend hours on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.  I could not agree more with what Chocano is stating in this quote.  The feeling that something is missing is something that I am used to throughout my entire day, as I am constantly working on completing my "To-do" list.  When this list is completed, I feel as though I still need something to do.  Whether that be to watch a movie or to be on my computer social networking.  It is almost a comfort to feel the need of just creating a "To-do" list of pointless things to work on, such as being sure I check my Facebook, then Twitter, then Pinterest to pass the time.

This has made me think that the addiction, for me, is not truly about what service the network is providing, but rather keeping my mind busy with something that I feel as though I need to do.  I certainly enjoy reading Tweets from celebrities and pinning things on Pinterest that I find interesting, but when really thinking about it, I think that what I really enjoy is keeping busy.  I enjoy feeling as though I am still doing productive things even if they are not in the slightest bit productive.  I believe these social networking sites assist people like me to keep busy and keep away that feeling of incompleteness that comes with simply sitting on the couch with nothing to do.