Facebook

I wrote this article for my school's newspaper.

What if I tell you I have a Facebook? No, I don't think that would come as a surprise to you. Facebook is currently one of the biggest social networking sites that has ever existed. Founded by a then-Harvard undergrad Mark Zuckerberg in 2004, it has hit its worldwide fame this year, hitting more than 500 million active users just this July 2010. Apparently, the said website allows users who declare themselves to be in the age span of 13 years old and above to register. Hence, teens will most likely register to keep in touch with their best of friends.

One positive thing about having a Facebook account is that, as mentioned above, you can chat with your friends (if they're online, of course) and leave them messages on their wall anytime you want. Surprisingly, you can also stalk your exes, that is if their profiles are in public unless they have blocked you; even more surprisingly, you can do the same thing to your crushes, too! Much advantages and perks you can get on Facebook like reconnecting with your long lost friends from either kindergarten or grade school. Plus, it makes it less awkward when communicating with strangers or people you are not familiar with (even at school!).

Sadly, every thing has its disadvantages, as is Facebook. However, these won't probably pose a threat to you just because it contributes a huge possibility of laziness and procrastination. Putting the latter aside, it can also tempt teens to misuse the site solely as a catalyst of harassing, bullying, and threatening each other. Your privacy may be a victim too! Admittedly, Facebook has faced some controversy about privacy. It has been criticized for lacking self-censorship for its users.

In spite of the advantages and disadvantages of Facebook in its peak, I'll freely admit that it is clearly not for everyone. A user must know what he is posting otherwise things might get pretty messy. Some gets Facebook and soon gets tired of updating his or her profile regularly, thus, leaving the profile just to gather dust in the deepest corner of cyberspace.

I'm not telling you to register an account immediately. Just let me play FarmVille in peace, okay?

Roll on tomorrow.