You are a youth and not a social network freak; Facebook especially! Forget about getting a respectable social rank among your colleagues, it’s the language or secret code (subscription to Facebook) that gets you there. If you want to belong to any “trendy cliché” in any uptown school or any other academic institution, signing up to Facebook is the access code; if you are not party to that train, you risk being dubbed “crude” thereby becoming a social misfit in that fraternity.This revolution-the Facebook trend- has swept everyone off their feet; it is not uncommon these days to find a person “face booking” in class while a lecture is going on, or in church in the middle of a sermon.I have always thought that this craze only grips a particular age group until I met my new little friend, Arnold, an 8year old, who boasts a Facebook account of over 600 friends. Most times he (Arnold) is punching buttons on his dad’s PC or internet enabled mobile phone either updating his status every 30 minutes, chatting, poking or doing something of a similar kind.Arnold is the type that logs out of his Facebook page then after switching off the PC, turns to “Facebooking” on phone. “Facebooking” just like any other addictive stuff has power to hold its victims hostage. “I just can’t do without it, it’s my companion, many times I find myself logging into my account unconsciously,” he confesses. Arnold is not alone; many people have caught this disease, adults inclusive. Some Facebook maniacs have argued that it’s a healthy form of leisure unlike smoking, drinking or doing drugs where one has to spend a lot of money, or get adverse health effects as a result and so it’s among the best leisure alternatives, according to them.Facebook being a fast, effective and dynamic social networking site is the reason it is a darling of many , so through this, people are able to seek first-rate communication, socialization, relaxation and amusement, these benefits are the ones that keep many people glued to it. However, Facebook, just like you will notice below, has a good share of adverse effects, it’s not a win -win situation.Have you heard that it has been responsible for breaking relationships? Let someone post something malicious or dubious on your wall, then this notion will begin to make sense to you. Bosco, a friend, got dumped by his girlfriend after reading a post on his wall made by a jilted lover claiming their affair (Bosco’s affair with the jilted lover) was still active, this upset the new girlfriend and she immediately called it quits. Facebook is also a haven of all sorts of “relationship” or “affair” mischief if you didn’t know, I have heard it being said that “some people are faithful on their walls but cheats in their inbox”. So watch out lest it destroys your own relationship too.Many have been sacked from their jobs after their employees discovering that they frequently divert from work to log into their Facebook accounts in the process wasting a lot of precious time. I think it’s the reason some employers have resorted to blocking this network from office PCs, aware of the threat they can pose.
