Recently, during my 35 minutes or so drive to work, I followed an opinion on radio about the impact of social networking websites such as Facebook (FB) on people, especially young ones in today's world. The speaker was of the opinion that because young people (and older ones) spend so much time on the internet nowadays, they do not have real contacts and relationships with friends and as such do not socialise in the real sense of it. Later in the eveningon that same day, I went for a meeting and quite a number of us were early for the meeting. While we were waiting for the meeting to start, a debate about this same topic ensued among some of my friends. I joined in the conversation and it was amazing to see how people view things from different perspectives. Today, as I signed out of my e-mail box, I noticed a news headline on my homepage that reads; “Get off Facebook and get a life”
The opinion of “experts” is that, contrary to the objectives of their founders, social networking via internet technology has greatly reduced physical networking among youngsters . At the moment, there's so much debate going on, on this subject to the extent that some experts are beginning to link some diseases with the amount of time that individuals spend on social networking websites (Please follow this link to read and listen to ITN story/interview on psychologist, Dr Aric Sigman)
I am of the opinion that social networking websites are good and have met the objectives of their founders although we cannot rule out instances of abuse by a handful of individuals. When I say abuse, I’m taking about people who use these sites to pry into the affairs of unsuspecting users and possibly use these sites for vices such as identify fraud. I’m also talking about individuals who have allowed these sites to take control of their life. It’s amazing sometimes when I browse through people’s pages and see that they’ve practically been on FB all day! I think people like that need to get a life as suggested by Dr Aric. While these networking platforms are good media to make contacts and catch up with “lost” contacts, I think it is foolhardy when individuals waste productive time very busy doing things that do not add any value to them directly or indirectly. Sometimes I wonder how people cope with what their conscience tells them when they burn their employers’ time facebooking at work. As a consequence, these individuals sacrifice their time with their family when they have to leave the office late because they have work catching ups to do when everyone else has gone home, just because they’ve been irresponsible enough to be facebooking all day.
I have two very good friends whom I don’t think I would have ever met in life if there weren’t social networking sites. About six years ago, I received “add friends” invitations from people that I hadn’t met before, to add them in my Hi-5 friends list. Each time that I receive such requests, I “screen” (If they’re people that I don’t know directly) the requests before adding the individual. Often, I add some and ignore some of them. It turned out that communication progressed between me and two of these my new friends. With time, we exchanged phone numbers; phone calls led to visits and we’ve since been very good friends! I remember the first time I visited one of them who happens to be a lady; I was a bit amused at the way I was treated when I got to their house at Ikotun, Lagos, Nigeria. Someone somewhere may have thought I was a “new boyfriend” or something. Everyone around “cleared” off and gave us “the privacy we deserved” throughout my four hours visit. Guess what, the same thing happened when she returned the visit! I've seen a few couples who met on social networking websites and have since been very happily married. I have seen good business relationships established through online networking contacts
If you’ve been following my line of thought, you may agree with me in this regard or say ‘well, that was just a one-off’ (or is it two-offs now?) I’d agree with you that the ‘good’ online experience may be a one-off because I have also met some funny individuals whom I didn’t need an Einstein to explain to me that they were scavengers looking for innocent people to prey on. I told some of them off straight away while in some cases (when I’m in a good mood) I played along with the individuals until they got tired of me and got off my page. Good online experience is not about making friends online alone. You can make legitimate and very good income online especially during this period of global economic hardship, using the same tools that others are wasting away – your computer, your eyes, your fingers and your head!
My take from the foregoing is that everyman has a motive and motivation for doing everything they do. So, when you find yourself addicted to facebook and think you need a break, take a break and probe yourself about your motive for staying glued to that/those pages. You may want to take a pause as well and ask if you’re adding any value to yourself or people around you by staying on your computer all day checking "your friends’" photos and reading their walls. You may actually even get more involved by exchanging mundane messages for eight hours or more on the internet in the name of social networking! While you were at it, others would have made many multiples of eight of whatever currency that they’re familiar with in those eight hours (minimum) that YOU have spent incurring electricity bills and causing potential harm to your eyes by inflicting them with radiations from your computer screen.
The opinion of “experts” is that, contrary to the objectives of their founders, social networking via internet technology has greatly reduced physical networking among youngsters . At the moment, there's so much debate going on, on this subject to the extent that some experts are beginning to link some diseases with the amount of time that individuals spend on social networking websites (Please follow this link to read and listen to ITN story/interview on psychologist, Dr Aric Sigman)
I am of the opinion that social networking websites are good and have met the objectives of their founders although we cannot rule out instances of abuse by a handful of individuals. When I say abuse, I’m taking about people who use these sites to pry into the affairs of unsuspecting users and possibly use these sites for vices such as identify fraud. I’m also talking about individuals who have allowed these sites to take control of their life. It’s amazing sometimes when I browse through people’s pages and see that they’ve practically been on FB all day! I think people like that need to get a life as suggested by Dr Aric. While these networking platforms are good media to make contacts and catch up with “lost” contacts, I think it is foolhardy when individuals waste productive time very busy doing things that do not add any value to them directly or indirectly. Sometimes I wonder how people cope with what their conscience tells them when they burn their employers’ time facebooking at work. As a consequence, these individuals sacrifice their time with their family when they have to leave the office late because they have work catching ups to do when everyone else has gone home, just because they’ve been irresponsible enough to be facebooking all day.
I have two very good friends whom I don’t think I would have ever met in life if there weren’t social networking sites. About six years ago, I received “add friends” invitations from people that I hadn’t met before, to add them in my Hi-5 friends list. Each time that I receive such requests, I “screen” (If they’re people that I don’t know directly) the requests before adding the individual. Often, I add some and ignore some of them. It turned out that communication progressed between me and two of these my new friends. With time, we exchanged phone numbers; phone calls led to visits and we’ve since been very good friends! I remember the first time I visited one of them who happens to be a lady; I was a bit amused at the way I was treated when I got to their house at Ikotun, Lagos, Nigeria. Someone somewhere may have thought I was a “new boyfriend” or something. Everyone around “cleared” off and gave us “the privacy we deserved” throughout my four hours visit. Guess what, the same thing happened when she returned the visit! I've seen a few couples who met on social networking websites and have since been very happily married. I have seen good business relationships established through online networking contacts
If you’ve been following my line of thought, you may agree with me in this regard or say ‘well, that was just a one-off’ (or is it two-offs now?) I’d agree with you that the ‘good’ online experience may be a one-off because I have also met some funny individuals whom I didn’t need an Einstein to explain to me that they were scavengers looking for innocent people to prey on. I told some of them off straight away while in some cases (when I’m in a good mood) I played along with the individuals until they got tired of me and got off my page. Good online experience is not about making friends online alone. You can make legitimate and very good income online especially during this period of global economic hardship, using the same tools that others are wasting away – your computer, your eyes, your fingers and your head!
My take from the foregoing is that everyman has a motive and motivation for doing everything they do. So, when you find yourself addicted to facebook and think you need a break, take a break and probe yourself about your motive for staying glued to that/those pages. You may want to take a pause as well and ask if you’re adding any value to yourself or people around you by staying on your computer all day checking "your friends’" photos and reading their walls. You may actually even get more involved by exchanging mundane messages for eight hours or more on the internet in the name of social networking! While you were at it, others would have made many multiples of eight of whatever currency that they’re familiar with in those eight hours (minimum) that YOU have spent incurring electricity bills and causing potential harm to your eyes by inflicting them with radiations from your computer screen.
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