> Note that I recognize that by this definition Facebook is a vitamin.
Facebook started its life as an immediate painkiller. They solved several problems for the most hyper-active of social groups: college students. The facebook-equivalent products at colleges at the time were either non-existent at most schools or atrocious. Then to amplify the Facebook benefit, the connectivity between the primitive school products was basically non-existent (that is, to the extent they existed, there tended to be no wider connection school to school). Circa ~2004-2007, Once students acquired the benefits of having Facebook as a social booster, leaving it would have left them worse off.
Facebook started its life as an immediate painkiller. They solved several problems for the most hyper-active of social groups: college students. The facebook-equivalent products at colleges at the time were either non-existent at most schools or atrocious. Then to amplify the Facebook benefit, the connectivity between the primitive school products was basically non-existent (that is, to the extent they existed, there tended to be no wider connection school to school). Circa ~2004-2007, Once students acquired the benefits of having Facebook as a social booster, leaving it would have left them worse off.