By Irene Tham
Digital Life reporter
itham@sph.com.sg

 

FACEBOOK addicts: You may soon find yourselves sharing more than just photos, gifts and emotional outbursts on the social networking site. 

A new study has shown that college students who use the social network have significantly lower grade-point averages (GPAs) than those who do not, according to Time.com.

The survey of 219 undergraduate and graduate students was done by doctoral candidate Aryn Karpinski of Ohio State University and Adam Duberstein of Ohio Dominican University. 

They found that GPAs of Facebook users typically ranged one grade point lower than those of non-users. For instance, users' grades range from 3.0 to 3.5 compared with a 3.5 to 4.0 range for non-Facebook users. 

"Maybe [Facebook users] are just prone to distraction. Maybe they are just procrastinators," Karpinski told Time.com. 

So as not to insult the intelligence of my friends, some of whom are loyal followers of Facebook's, I will only go as far to say that the social network is a huge waste of time. 

I've always wondered why anyone would spend hours updating their profiles and photos on the site, much less incessantly "poking" or "throwing sheep" at people. Too much time on hand? Exhibitionist blogger syndrome? 

Let me suggest a better way to send personal messages. How about an e-mail, a phone text messsage or, better still, a phone call? 

I would save all social network communications for broadcast. It is an effective tool for sending the same message to many people at once.

It is because of the brevity of Facebook messages that some experts associate Facebook with diminished mental abilities.

Oxford University neuroscientist Susan Greenfield had in February cautioned that social networks were "infantilising the brain" by shortening its attention span and providing instant gratification constantly. 

UCLA neuroscientist Gary Small also warned of an inability to read real-life facial expressions and understand the emotional context of subtle gestures in his book iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind.

They could be right. Why didn't anyone think that tagging a friend in a photo uploaded on Facebook without his or her prior permission is perfectly acceptable? What if the friend prefers not to be identified online? 

While I'm careful about who I add as friends and who has access to my personal information, I can't say the same for my friends on Facebook. Their security settings may not be as high as what I've set in my profile, and as such, what they upload about me can be seen by the friends they indiscriminately add to their list everyday.

What do you think about the popularity of social networking sites? Leave your comment here.