Herald
4 December 2010
By Catherine Murombedzi
LOVE or hate it, the Facebook movement has taken over the social network like a hurricane
Commanding a following of over 500 million members which is about an 1/8 of the world’s population, its far reaching effects can not be understated considering a large portion of the remaining 7/8 of the world do not have access to the internet.
The phenomenon has gripped people of all ages.
Walk into any office and you are assured that that someone is on the net and surely logged onto Facebook.
Started by 25 year-old Mark Zuckerbeg during his college years at Harvard the youngster could have never imagined that the site could permeate the lives of so many and catapult him to millionaire status in no time.
In the first years it initially gripped the teens and those in the early twenties but of late even some in the mid life stages and even senior citizens over 65 have Facebook accounts.
The latest senior citizen to have caused excitement on the scene was Queen Elizabeth who had over 500 000 hits on her account on the first day she joined the social network forum.
Now local users with a mobile handset equipped with 3G enabled features can enjoy the service.
For the service providers that have this it is selling like hot cakes and queues of potential subscribers are evidence in town everyday.
It appears the site has become the proverbial place where one can be who ever one wants to be.
High School drop outs become superstars, while the office orderlies become MDs and philanthropists.
Technology has made the world a global village.
It has broken down distance barriers and on the touch of a button communication has been made possible.
With the Facebook addicts, there any nobody is an honourable somebody.
A loser becomes a financial guru and the lonely hearts become experts in counselling and giving advice like the Dear Aunt columns in the newspapers.
Lies of a church mouse becoming knights are not new.
Married men put up their profiles stating their relationships simply as: “In a complicated relationship”.
Rest assured if his wife and kids were to catch wind of this his life would be very complicated in a jiffy.
Age is not a factor, a sixty year old can be 55 and the younger they get on Facebook.
It could be that each birthday is celebrated in a descending order.
I have noticed three who were in the same stream at college being 36 in 2010. When they shed the six years is anyone’s business.
Youths have come out in defence of Facebook and my 22 year-old son claims it is a cost effective way of simultaneous communication with all your pals at virtually a dollar a day.
I am still convinced it is being abused and the better the senior citizens did not take to lying on the forum. It is best advised for those over the prime to stay off the forum.
But with freedom of expression and communication who am I to tell anyone that you are too old for Facebook.
Our honourable ministers namely David Coltart and Saviour Kasukuwere are there.
There are literally in the nick of life and stay updated.
There have been cases where an honourable minister, not the ones mentioned above has taken to Facebook to address his superiors. He has abused the forum. if he has an issue with the later, then have it discussed professionally and not on the public domain.
Leaders are not made of that stuff — public seeking sympathy does not make good stead.
What is it that is having people hooked up on a technological savvy that did not mean much a decade ago?
It could be an end for those who have been denied visas for years to travel abroad.
On Facebook, a youth in Mabvuku can be in Edinburgh, completing a masters programme.
So I guess it is okay, finally the have never been can now be courtesy of Facebook.
The guy without a passport rat holed in Mbare for 10 years is now in Sydney, Australia.
Dreams never know limits and Facebook has made it possible.
So does it warrant to tell the whole world if the shop keeper was a bit rude to you this morning. Announcing on the forum that so and so is an idiot shows a lack of maturity on the one posting the message.
There is no censorship on Facebook so all hog wash and the truth make it in equal terms.
It looks like suck posers on Facebook have no better work to do. The world has serious issues and Facebook is the chat where rewinding is permitted.
All the same, thanks to Mark for the innovation.
Keep hooked and stay in touch on the touch of a button.
cathrine.mwauyakufa@zimpapers.co.zw