THE CRAZE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING

-  Olimai Mary (010/MAC/121)

                Youthfulness is traditionally characterized by exhibition of various characters and actions which are affected by cultural and economic norms.  Nigeria youth are no different.

                The craze that now greatly influences the Nigerian youth is social networking and the average Nigerian youth has their profile in at least one online social network, mainly Facebook, Twitter, 2go and BBM (Blackberry Messenger)

                As usual, social networking was initially seen as a good, cheap way to connect, making communication easier and fun for youths worldwide.  However, social networking is gradually becoming a nuisance, with youth across the globe uniformly displaying anti-social use by barely paying attention to anything else at home, school even at church. 

                The rapid delivery of mobile interactivity has most youth glued to their phones and pushing financial limits, in bids to win unspoken and unnecessary ‘mine is newer/more expensive than yours’ contests.

                Nigerian youth, like their peers worldwide, derive much pleasure and social satisfaction from online social networking. But they are similarly also diverted from vital serious endeavors like education, causing grim unseriousness among our nation’s future leaders.

As most social networking youth are at ages of self-supervision, wherein they are expected, without supervision, efforts need to be made early by parents and schools to educate children on positive phone use.