Let the statistics do the talking. There are more than 1.1 billion Internet users (which includes me!), around 3 billion mobile phone users, 1 billion of those use Internet messengers and emails and a third are busy on social networking websites like Orkut, MySpace and the latest to the directory - SecondLife.

Half of my classmates have Internet at there homes and they socialize after university hours on the Internet. And the ones who have no Internet access at homes also socialize on the Internet. How? They utilize the free time at our Institute and many a times even proudly bunk classes to check there scraps!

And what the heck do these social networking websites provide that glues the neitzens of today to there own 17” world? Linking up without there firewalls (our parents/elders in this case) knowing about it.

Still there has been a rage around the topic that too much of computers has actually made the youth of today forget there social life. They do not know what is happening around them but they know what is happening with there online friend sleeping in other part of the world!

But don’t you think the concept of social networking websites kills this very point? If a computer addict is glued to the Internet, it is not because of isolation. For many these websites are the only resource where they can socialize, make friends, express there thoughts, share content, and most importantly - communicate to the “like minded”

Think! People might create virtual identities at SecondLife saying they want to be someone else for sometime but the major reason is, they want to connect with more humans even though it is virtual!

Don’t you think I gave you a strong point which you can easily use to argue to your parents when they ask you not to be glued to your computer for hours?