What’s it with Face-book?

Just a while ago I overheard my youngest son talk to his friend on the phone. This is how the conversation went…

“Hey! I just deleted 148 people from my face-book. Ya, these are people I don’t know. By the way, I think we should delete the face-book, all together. I think it is a waste of time….. (his friend talks – I can’t hear his side of the conversation)….. but seriously, why do we need the face-book? We keep staring at the computer nearly the whole day and read about what is happening in other people’s lives….(his friend talks)….I would rather look at my own life and try to improve it. Who needs to know what the other person is doing and half the time we only read the rubbish posted there.”

“Praise the Lord! He has been enlightened by the Holy Spirit!” I exclaimed within myself.

These days, both old and young are caught in the web of the face-book. I agree that it is useful to keep in touch with friends and to make new friends but little do most people realize that it eats into their precious time. Yes I do agree with my son that it is a waste of time in most instances.

Wait! Before you throw stones at me please read further.  Face-book is for those above eighteen years of age. Nevertheless young school going children and teens below eighteen, enter their ages as above eighteen and sign up for an account in the face-book. Then they, thrilled at the realization that they can communicate with many friends and make many more friends, spend most of their waking time and sleeping time chatting on it. They neglect their studies and as a result their grades drop drastically.

Most of these kids lack maturity and just post any comment or picture on it, without realizing the consequences of their actions.  Recently one such comment by a teenager caused a family feud. Another time because of a comment posted by a prankster, a gang fight broke out. Young people these days use it to poke fun at one another. They even post negative or embarrassing comments about someone they don’t like or about someone they are angry with and others will add on to these comments.

Face-book can be put to good use if one has self control. It is a fantastic tool to inform one’s friends of something one would like to share. You can get connected to long lost friends through the face-book and you can save on sms’s and phone calls. You can even keep track of what your children are up to. (Ooops! The cat is out of the bag!) Nevertheless you should learn the art of being the master of the face-book and not its slave.

Always  remember, a knife can be used to cut an apple and it can also kill someone; fire can be used to cook your meals and can also destroy things and lives; medicine heals when the proper dosage is taken and the same medicine can kill when there is an over dosage administered. Likewise, face-book can help you to save time or to waste time. Face-book can bring people together or apart depending upon the way you use it.

Therefore my dear face-book people out there, keep in mind that lost time and lost age can never be gotten again. Not even in your dreams. So use the face-book wisely.