What you didn't know about #Facebook

        I have written on my home page (the Romanian part) that each of us belongs to the time we dare to live and Facebook, warts and all, is here, in the present time. 

        Should we spend our time with Facebook? Let’s start with some “technical details”:

Name: Facebook- social networking service

Birth: 2004

Place of birth: Harvard University, USA

Key man: Mark Zuckerberg

Initial purpose: a private website for the university students

Spreading: In 2011 Facebook had 750 million members and this year more than one billion members - or should we call them “victims”? Anyway, in 50-70 years there will be more dead people on Facebook than living ones!

“Handling” problems – it is a forbidden network in the Middle East because of some protest movements organized using Facebook.

Racketeers/victims: politicians regard their active presence on Facebook as a decisive winning factor, artists use it to have a “closer” relationship with the fans; for the advertising agencies it is a golden mine; secret services and investigators file legal requests to obtain additional information about some accounts; and all of us: on Facebook we are smarter and more beautiful, thus we have a better “virtual” self.

So, should we spend our time with Facebook?

“NO  WAY!”-  Reasons:  

• It uses our personal data to introduce ads compatible with our profile and even sells this information to third-party companies. Thus, lots of complaints have been registered.
• Thousands of hacking attempts are made every day.
• Psychologists established that there is a connection between social networking and jealousy (lots of couples seem to have separated and ironically they still search for the latest stories and photos of their ex, of course using a “spy” account on Facebook).
• We make it easy for the criminals. Let’s imagine the following scenario:  you’ve just bought the latest model of  TV and you make sure that all your friends see it “discreetly” , you also have some pictures in front of your house (with your house number would be perfect!) and in a week time you enter the following post : “I’m leaving for Jamaica!” (How could you not post such an event?). All the “hard work”, that “decent” thieves used to do, has just been completed by you with a few clicks.
• Addiction – psychologists identified it as a new addiction 

“YES, OF COURSE!” – Reasons: 

• We read, post, communicate and entertain ourselves with pictures or short movies. 
• We invite or we are invited to different events.
• Most users search for their former classmates or workmates.
• We stay up-to-date with the latest news and sometimes we can win different contests.
• Some users promote their own products.
• Introvert people find it easy to communicate on Facebook. It is, essentially, a place where you enter, post and leave without explanation.
• In the “real” life we would never encounter so many persons.
• On line we are equal. My account is not bigger than your account.

Advice. Pay attention to the settings! You can choose your own level of confidentiality, if you are a clued-up-about user (you’ve just read this article so far, so it means you are!). The “virtual” danger becomes real when we don’t know how to set and respect some limits. What do we post? How long do we stay connected? What type and how many friends do we have? If we obey these rules, we can really enjoy the advantages of this (or any) social networking service.

Don’t forget to read books and watch good movies for your “care of the self”, and no more than half an hour of Facebook a day!