Some years ago a new trend of social networking emerged when social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace came into being. They gave a whole new dimension to the world of networking. These networks without a doubt brought people closer but at the same time these sites are becoming an addiction for the users.
People spend hours and hours on Facebook and it seems like a compulsion for everyone to regularly check their accounts and update their Facebook status. These sites are working exactly like drugs; dependency ratio of the people using these sites is increasing day by day.
Students waste their time on these sites and then they fail to meet up obligations such as completion of assignments and other study related tasks.
Students just fail to realise how much time they are spending on these sites and how it would affect their academic performance.
Studies have shown that social networking addiction is now categorised as a psychological disorder. In a recent study at the University of Athens, Greek psychiatrists argued that a woman who had gone as far as losing her job on account of her compulsion to check and update her Facebook, could be identified as a “social network addict.” It has been noted that there may be a correlation between low self-esteem and a sense of social inadequacy and social network addiction.
It seems that many types of social interaction which would present great challenges in the real world for certain types of individuals have been rendered much easier for them in the virtual world, thus putting them at a higher risk of becoming addicted to Facebook and other social networking sites.
NIMRA HAMID
Kinnaird College, Lahore
