How much are you obsessed with Face book, say on a scale from 1 to 10?
If your score reads 8 or more, then please do read through this post. Otherwise you can close this page and navigate back to Dazebook. Oh no!! How can I be so obsolete?. You don’t have to open any browser anymore. You can just click that fancy looking widget in your smart phone and enter that virtual wonderland which is quickly becoming the world’s most populated community (Beating even China)
What do I (Imagine, Ibrahim against Mark Zucky and his die hard millions) have against Face book? Let me very humbly put up a list of perils.
Puts you in a Cocoon: When people are on Face book, they forget their surroundings completely. Ringing doorbells, crying babies, calls for help, squeals of delight……..all gets filtered out as one does the all so important task of commenting “So cuteeee……..” “Koochi Kooo”, or clicking the “I Like” icon or forwarding some “Much seen and better avoided” pics or video links.
No friends in the Real world: Visits to the neighbors, Social get togethers… where you meet real people are slowly dwindling away, as one gets more and more addicted to reading just updated status messages and coming up with posts for yourself. Where will you get time to smile when you are busy uploading pictures of your cat, kitchen, laundry bag etc , for the entertainment of all those “People you may know”. Speaking about addiction, I have seen people rushing back to this daze world every other minute to play one of the hundreds of games available, even at the dead of the night.
No time to learn and develop: 2 hours on face book every day- that’s 12.5% of the time that you are awake. If you live up to 65, you would have spent almost 9 years socializing. Just imagine the opportunity costs involved. What benefits would you have gained if you had used this time to learn and develop?
Unwanted Exposure: Congrats!!! you have made yourself completely exposed to the world. Anyone who wants to find out anything about you will be able to do so now. If you have people in your life who want to stalk you or intimidate you, it will be a cake walk for them . Maybe you have some old friends who you don’t want to talk to anymore or someone you owe money to. Thanks to Dazebook, you are just a click away. Please make sure to provide your age, birth date, address, location, occupation, and other personal information. It will make it easier for Identity thieves to take advantage of you. And yes- Simple things like a picture that has your car’s license plate in it or posting a status message saying that you’ll be on vacation for the next week is better than sending a direct invitation for burglars to rob your house.
Possibility of Conflict: Even with all your maturity and patience, you may not be able to put up with the actions of those cool dudes who create stupid status messages, upload embarrassing picture and many other ridiculous actions. Dazebook thus opens up a million chances for you to lose your cool.
No hierarchies: When I was small, I wouldn’t dare to enter my Grandfathers room. Now my son and his great uncle appear simultaneously on pages adorned with sick jokes and vulgar comments. The other day, my 10 year old was caught opining “I want to get in touch with my 3rd grade teacher again. I want to ask her whether she is on Face book”
Socializing or flirting ?: I don’t want to elaborate. But I personally know of more than a dozen divorces that happened due to face book and scores of parents have come to us seeking help. “My 9 year old daughter is flirting with a much senior man ….HELP !!!!!”
Thank god!!! I have managed to evade this addiction till now. To all those who tell me to also look at the positive side of things and to give credit to Face book for its benefits… I would like to quote Islam’s take on alcohol. “It has good sides and bad sides and the bad sides heavily outweigh the good ones”. So go ahead…. Take a calculated risk if you want… if you think that you can handle it.
#MissionInspire1Million 
point noted!!!!!!
The above mentioned perils are applicable not just to Facebook but to all social networking sites;Twitter,LinkedIn,Orkut,Plaxo; to name a few.
Social networking has become a core part of our life;be it Facebook,twitter or LinkedIn.Its about networking and it is an integral part of human race from the time immemorial.Before, it was a chat across your garden rails in the evenings for the women and the morning walk for the guys.When the life’s momentum increased the medium changed to PCs.
I guess all these sites has privacy options which empowers the owner to decide whom to watch his/her details;status or pics.
Social networking should improve your life,not become your life…So its all about how you handle….
Well said. Fully agree. However, the fact is that there are umpteen relationships breaking apart, grades dwindling, people getting stalked and identities stolen. How many of us are really able to control this addiction?. How many of us are really using the required security and privacy options?
recently subscribed to facebook. first month was full of thrills as got coneected to some of the relatives living far away however then i noticed that the people living around me got the feeling of being ignored. Mila rightly said that human race has a desire of networking since time immemorial however facebook makes you turn to virtual networking where maybe the people you are interacting with are not the ones you imagine you are actually interacting. some times a He may be a She or vice versa.
Thanks Nisar Bhai
Socialising is indeed important. Probably that’s why we have been asked to attend prayers in congregation 5 times a day. However let us not forget the hadith “Dont get too close to people, you may become estranged later. Dont get too estranged from people, you may get closer later”. I beleive that the facebook addiction is persuading people to BARE too much… which may work against them later……
Find it hard to understand how Facebook can alone cause the grave danger which likedin or other sites can’t.For me both are of similar functions; only the nature is different.Both BARES too much if not cleverly used.I think its unfair to point out a single from a group.
Its just like pressure-cooker.If you know how to operate it its the best friend you’ve(Pl check with the ones who give a hand in kitchen)and if you don’t it could be fatal.
Any relation whether virtual or not needs a balance without which the relation itself could cease to exist:-)So Pl don’t blame FB for it.
Agree partially. Linkedin helps in building ones career and also in enhancing knowledge and skills. Used mostly by adults. Very little room for casual chatting, flirting and sharing personal pics. Huge difference between water and vinegar. Both look alike though.