^{FACE-BOOK KEEPING AND BALANCE SHEET ~Kamlalmuan Ngaihte}

I never thought a day would come when I would turn to Facebook to help me recall some live event (my previous trainings in this case). Ironically, not very long ago I would scoff at face book-keepers, calling them vain, shallow or even immature. Now I find myself exactly where I placed them, or maybe even worse. Now it seems my life is chronicled in Facebook and I frequently catch myself unconsciously searching for the “Like” button even when I receive text messages. Or more recently, during one of our classes we were being shown some beautiful slides and I almost blurted out, “Sir I like your post a lot!” Is this normal behavior? I don’t know.

It all started out of curiosity, and then I found it to be a good cure for boredom. Slowly it became a habit, and the only next logical step in its evolution was to become a necessity. And I must say she is one greedy b***h. Facebook or FB has invaded all our private spaces, whether you’re hanging out with friends, at the park with your family, having a birthday party, or even at a religious gathering, we all faithfully flash our Kodak smile when someone shouts, “One photo for Facebook!” I’m even ashamed to admit how many hours I spend "online" because, well, because it’s shameful.

Now I must check my notifications every ten seconds because my “Friends” out there are waiting for my “Comments”, and I must never fail to hit “Like” on witty remarks or cool new pictures. The thumb rule is, the more you give, the more you get. But is this disrupting my work? No, because I have developed the tenacity to multitask everything. Now people laugh at my back and even that has stopped bothering me. But that’s not all; now I need a new handset with which I can “Mention” my friends in a comment. And there seems to be no end to this madness. I just hope there aren’t too many fools like me.

But it has its benefits too. People from all walks of life come together and share their valuable thoughts and knowledge. 1000 miles away I get news about home as soon as it happens, and by the time it reaches the local newspapers, we have already added a thousand comments, heard 10 different versions and got it banned!! There are groups on anything imaginable. And once you're in, you can either own it or become an outcast depending on how you conduct yourself. FB also gives us news from all over the world, or any part of the world we choose, we just have to “Like” the appropriate page and they’ll faithfully “Post” it all on our “Wall”, and this has always been my preferred mode of troubleshooting because although Google has almost everything, it's still a dumb machine while FB permits a live session with the specialists. I have indulged myself and profited beyond measure. One such friend on whom I shall remain eternally grateful is WaynePong, who taught me Photoshop from scratch, patiently holding my hand through all my whimsical demands (it's a shame I still don't know his real name). Countless others have also helped me and although I can't remember all your "Names" I hope my gratitude reaches you all in your respective categories, viz., Excel, Photoshop, MS Word, Download, Softwares, Hardware crash, Cartoon Series / Force Five and so on.

See, all I want to say is that there is a good and bad side to everything. Facebook, being a multi billion-dollar company isn't closing down soon. In fact, all signs indicate that it will only grow bigger, meaning harder and harder to resist. So while we're all hooked to it, let us also try to maintain a healthy balance and get some benefit out of it. And I’ll be one lucky boy if I can follow my own advice.