By Dayo Adesulu

The Director, Lagos Resource Centre Mrs Bridget Itsueli has said that students and fans of Facebook are to exercise caution in their use of Facebook as whatever is posted by the users could be used against them in the future. She argued that so many users of the popular Facebook who posted their past present and future detail of their lives and plans did so ignorantly to the entire world and could be used by anyone to challenge them at the peak of their careers in life. “Know the way you use your Facebook because what you posted on Facebook about yourself could be used by your enemies against you. Today is the maker of tomorrow” she said.

Facebook, a social network service and website launched in February 2004 which by January 2011 has more than 600 million active users allover the globe. The founder Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow computer science students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes had the following aims for Facebook users which include; creating of personal profile, adding of other users as friends and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile and with the intention of helping students to get to know each other better. Additionally, users may join common interest user groups, organized by workplace, school, or college, or other characteristics.

Itsueli did not altogether condemned the use of Facebook. She quit agreed that the social network service could be useful to students but however warned against the types of information, profile and messages users exchanged on Facebook. She urged the students to make good use of technology stressing that if any student lacks focus, technology will distract its attention. Citing the advantages of mobile phone and computer, she noted that as useful as they are, if not properly used, it could serve as distractions to students who lack goals in life. She charged the students not to spend much of their time on video and handset games, browsing Facebook, You Tube and Twitter as these could negatively influence the good use of their time.

She gave this advice recently at a speech / prize giving ceremony organised by Holy Child College, Ikoyi while speaking on “Developing the woman for nation building and life in a competitive world” She urged the girls to be women of substance who believe in themselves adding that if a woman does not belief in herself, no one can believe in her. “ It is what you dream of as a girl, you work as a woman. Start doing your dream now. Everyone has one thing in her that is outstanding, Just sit alone and think about yourself. There is something you can do at every situation. Any friend who does not move you close to your dream is taken you away from your dream,” she said.

Also commenting on the effort of the students and teachers, Prof A.N Okaka noted that teachers are the direct input in the students reiterating that what the teachers are is the same thing with students, urging students to learn from their teachers and schoolmates.