It’s mother’s day. Is there a better spoiler for all my friends than to announce my departure from Facebook?
I have been thinking about leaving this social network for a while now, but so many things are stopping me.
How else can my friends keep abreast of any news from me? Social networking is the most efficient way to keep them updated. It also saddens me to think that I may no longer see my friends’ pictures too if I deactivate my account on Facebook.
I will miss their food and travels which I try to experience vicariously. These things matter too.
On the other hand, there is a part of me that gets irritated by Facebook. I get annoyed at how an ordinary conversation or post can easily turn into an emotionally-charged one and even provoke a storm of criticism and argument.
Not infrequently have I read this kind of posts on my feed. People do not hesitate to express themselves freely on Facebook even on issues they know nothing of and about people they hardly know. The medium that is Facebook provides them a mask to hide behind and they feel free to say things which they probably wouldn’t under normal circumstances.
Does this sound healthy? Perhaps to introverted people who are finally able to express themselves. However I believe there should be a modicum of respect when exchanging opinions on social networks.
Unfortunately there are no ethics on cyber communication that people can read and follow and the most one can do if conversation has gotten out of hand is to unfriend the person that got one’s goat.
I am not the first one to find some aspects of Facebook irritating. My best friend Ann is convinced that Facebook is responsible for broken homes and the downswing of the moral values of its subscribers.
I find her accusation a bit much but I do know of some people who ended their relationship and even marriage because of the people they met through Facebook.
My sister’s girlfriend in Germany left her German husband to run away with a man she’d met on the internet. She gave up a comfortable life in exchange for an uncertain life in Manila. The sad thing is when she realised her mistake and attempted to go back to Germany, her husband had her name already blacklisted in the embassy and she couldn’t get another visa.
People who are most vulnerable to cyber crooks are innocent children and women who are unhappy with their lot. Some of these women are middle-aged OFWs or married women who live overseas.
Facebook bridges the distance between them and the unscrupulous men back home whose intent is to make money out of these women’s loneliness.
Sixty-four-year old Nita was surprised to find someone sending her a personal message on her Facebook account. According to this man, he was an admirer of her lovely pictures on Facebook. The man’s attention and sweet words flattered Nita. More intimate messages followed. Before long, she had fallen in love and a cyber relationship had begun.
Then one day, he broke the news to her that he was seriously ill and in need of some medications. Nita in all naiveté began sending him money. The requests for financial help became more frequent until one day she realised all her savings had been drained away. When she told him about this, he disappeared as quick as a wink.
So much for Facebook.
So Much for Facebook
