Facebook Addiction and its Ramifications - By Zubair Khalil

Now a day, social network is one of the important ways of communication. It’s fast, reliable and easily available. With the development of information and technology (IT), the communication software’s and programs are also very advanced. There are numbers of social communication software’s like Yahoo, MSN, Google +, Twitter and Facebook etc, which help the people to share their views and thoughts with their family, friends and colleagues. There is no doubt that such activities have a healthy impact on our life but they also contain side effects.

One of the diseases which acts like a cyber cancer is online addiction. People spend their limitless time on net surfing, watching and playing online games. Such things are not only waste of time but also hazardous to their health. This addiction prevents them from physical activities.

Facebook is one of the major online addictions. But a question arises 

“Is there really such a thing as Facebook addiction”?

The answer is yes. Recent researches show that if a person spends few hours on Facebook, his health could become out of balance which would lead to the disorder known as FAD (Facebook Addiction Disorder). There are numerous effects of FAD which are as follows.

1. Tolerance: This term is used to describe the desperate behavior of a Facebook addict. They spend an increasing amount of time on the site, coming to a stage where they need it in order to obtain satisfaction.
2. Reduction of normal social: Someone suffering from FAD will reduce the time spent catching up with friends, playing sport or whatever it is they used to enjoy doing, to simply spend time on Facebook. Instead of catching up with a friend for coffee, they will send a Facebook message. A dinner date will be substituted with a messenger chat. In extreme cases, the person will even stop answering their parent’s phone calls, instead insisting that they use Facebook to contact them.
3. Virtual dates: It is obvious that things are extreme when real dates are replaced with virtual dates. Instead of going to the movies or out to dinner, they tell their partner to be online at a certain time.
4. Fake friends: If 8 out of 10 people shown on their Facebook page are complete strangers, it is undeniable that they have a serious case of FAD.
5. Complete addiction: When they meet new people, they say their name, followed by “I’ll talk to you on Facebook”, or for those who are extremely bad, “I’ll see you in Facebook”. Their pets have Facebook pages, and any notifications, wall posts, inboxes or friend requests that they receive give them a high, one which can be compared to that gambling addicts get from the poker or roulette table.