juliunizeer (Simplify your Internet life)

There are 54 million members worldwide, according to Washington Post. Friendster is an online social network of adults to connect with families and friends through the use of internet, launched in 2002 by Jonathan Abrams. Since internet is readily available almost anywhere, the number of friendster users elevates considerably each day. Today, the top four countries that most widely use the friendster include Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Philippines, which is at the peak.

In Pangasinan alone, the height of friendster users rises. Keeping in touch with loved ones from afar, expressing ideas and feelings with other people, meeting new people, pastime, and mate searching and selection are only some of the benefits of friendster. On the contrary, friendster is becoming an addiction to many teenagers and young adults of Pangasinan nowadays. Some of which are prioritizing friendster over classes, finding more importance on being logged in it than learning new lessons. A number of office employees often use work hours for frienster surfing, some spends their whole day allowance for the access, valuing it more than health. Most of this so called “friendster addicts” who can afford even secured an internet line at home in order to utilize unlimited friendster use. In spite the good purpose of friendster, a considerable number of users abuses by trading school and health to friendster, posting daring or even phonographic photos, posting offensive words making friendster an avenue for war. The addiction to friendster may lead to poor performance in work and school leading to a dim future, impoverished health, and corrupted mind of the younger ones.

According to the psychosocial theory of development by Erik Erikson, an adolescent need to find his/her own identity. An adult needs to have intimate ties with the opposite sex. And friendster may contribute to this need, illuminating why friendster becomes so popular these days. Thus, there is a growing need of eliminating the ill effects of addiction to friendster. Otherwise, number of “friendster addicts” will continually raise perpendicular to the number of added users. This will then turn identity to role confusion and intimacy to isolation, according to the said theory.

written by Sir JCM \\ tags: Erik Erikson, Friendster, friendster addicts, Friendster Heightens in Pangasinan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pangasinan, Philippines, Singapore