Forget smoking, now Facebook rules office

It’s time to face the sun and fresh air rather than the indoor alternative of Facebook, writes Dennis Fitzgerald

In the latest news from the world of industrial negotiations comes an update to “smoke” time. No longer do workers want or demand time off to attend to their addiction to cigarettes but to a new form of addiction – Facebook.

Some workers are actually ask- ing for breaks during the working day to check their Facebook pages with tacit approval from their employers.

The question as to which is more addictive is not so easy to resolve. Cigarettes are physically addictive and quite likely to eventually kill you, whereas Facebook is psychologically addictive and likely to kill your social skills, which most would think is the better of the options.

The committee behind the latest edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Edition 5) recognise many forms of addiction and is considering further investigations of sex addiction and Internet gaming disorder although not yet a Facebook specific addiction.

In time, there will probably be far more people ‘suffering’ from Facebook addiction.

It’s time to face the sun and fresh air rather than the indoor alternative of Facebook – although facing a paper book is also encouraged.