Facebook (FB) is undoubtedly one of the most popular social networking sites. It is a great way of keeping in touch with friends and reconnecting with long-lost buddies from school or college days.
But too much of even a great thing may not be so good in the end, as the Tamil saying goes.
So here is a way to find out if you are too hooked up to FB.
You are tempted to post every sneeze and sniffle as your status update so much so that your friends pray for your speedy recovery each time you catch a cold.
Your friends feel that they'll be able to evacuate you from a burning building faster by posting on your wall than by calling/texting you or even screaming ‘fire' from outside your door.
You are surprised that there are no ‘like' or ‘unlike' buttons that you can press in real life conversations.
And of course like most FB users you seem to have forgotten that the opposite of ‘like' is ‘dislike'.
Like an alcoholic who craves for his ‘eye-opener,' you find yourself unable to begin your day till you've had your morning dose of FB. That includes posting whatever interesting event that might have happened since you logged off (which was probably just before you fell asleep).
You start experiencing serious discomfort and withdrawal symptoms when you are unable to access FB, like during business meetings, and get relief only after you manage to excuse yourself to the bathroom, from where you update the people on FB about the boring meeting you are stuck in.
If you think that the above statements are true when it comes to your FB use you might be suffering from what people call FAD or Facebook Addiction Disorder.
But then there is no need to panic. I am sure there are many folks out there with FAD and you could meet and form support groups to encourage and help each other get over this addiction.
And what better way to connect with them but through Facebook!
(The writer is junior resident, Department of Radiodiagnosis, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Puducherry. Email: dianapraj@gmail.com)
