It is interesting to see in the media that the Solomon Islands have temporarily banned Facebook. The Prime Minister has banned Facebook on the basis that it undermines cohesion, and it undermines efforts to unite the country.

Is this a good idea and beneficial for the community, or is it a form of control and limiting expression? The problem is that so many of us see Facebook as a freedom to speak about issues, even though Facebook has become the very opposite of what it originally set out to be.

As a traveller abroad I do want to add, that I have travelled to many third world countries where such technologies were emerging. In fact I’ve been in places where the people didn’t have mains water or electric but had mobile phones and social media. ( phones were powered by solar power). In such places where only years earlier the children were welcoming and friendly, I have now seen them confrontational, aggressive, rude and violent. They are now exposed to a world that was once not open to them.

Personally, for all of the initial intent and good that social media brought, I now think the pro’s outweigh the con’s. But those are just my thoughts.