Are online social networks (Facebook, etc.) overall more harmful or more beneficial to society?

I think that social networks like Facebook are more harmful than beneficial because of how addicting and time wasting it is. In the United States, 116 hundred  million people have a Facebook out of the estimated 309 hundred million people total. That is more than a third of the whole population of the United States.

    Nearly every student that I have known that has a Facebook admits to browsing on the site for an unexpectedly long amount of time. Most of them say that they will just randomly log into Facebook for just about no reason, except that they are bored. A lot of them even said that they spend a lot of time on Facebook doing absolutely unnecessary things like reading posts written by other people that has nothing to do with them. Even some of my teachers have admitted to spending too much time on Facebook. A teacher of mine in eighth grade called it a time vacuum, and it is definitely true. Minutes pass by unnoticed when on such an addictive site.
    I think that Facebook’s user friendly format really attracts a lot of users. I have heard plenty of people who say social networks like Youtube and Facebook have destroyed their academic life, and I am definitely one of them. After watching a video, another interesting video is conveniently sitting on the right. I have probably watched atleast a few thousand hours of nature videos, shows, and even movies. It is definitely educational, but probably not the most important priority when i have school work to do.
    I admit that Facebook and Youtube helps me once in a while when i need to communicate with a friend or watch a video demonstration. Whenever i forget to write down a homework assignment or forget the instructions for it, Facebook easily connects me live feedback, but this will usually leave me talking about stuff that has nothing to do with the school work due the next day. I think that Facebook has a lot of unnecessary things like games and groups that are just plain distractions for someone who is trying to just get in, get an answers, and leave.
    In the end, Facebook may connect friends together, but it also distracts them to the point that it is out of hand.