Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Facing the Facebook Fiasco


What just happened, simply amazes me and makes me wonder if the our government will ever cease to surprise us with its ... well, I don't want to sound harsh!

I mean, one commoner such as me in Pakistan logs on to Facebook and finds that it has been BLOCKED (actually banned)! argh!



Yes, I know what has been going on, on Facebook for more than a week and what has been and is being done as retaliation to it but among all remedies such as boycotting Facebook for a day or for ever, protesting against what is happening, creating independent positive initiatives in the forms of 'events' and 'groups' by the users, blocking Facebook on a national level by the government seems to be not only useless but even counter-productive.

And the funniest in the saddest way ever is the fact that I can still access Facebook, yes, haha. See this ...


(It's 6 pm now, more than half an hour since Facebook had been blocked as you can see the sudden pause of posts from people in my NewsFeed except for me)


C'mon, even kids in junior school now know about Proxy sites! Too bad, those who have blocked Facebook do not have an updated list of proxy sites, with the help of which they could block back door entrances to Facebook as well... which in a way makes me less desperate and angry about the weird logic our government uses in situations such as these.

I am the victim emotional distress, and I am the one who has now been barred from expressing my feelings! So much for the 'freedom of speech' and justice!

*shuts her laptop tight and goes to the balcony to get some fresh air*


PS: Facebook right now feels very similar to what the streets of NewYork looked like in the movie 'I am Legend' - horrifyingly devoid of life!


Update (6:40 pm) : well, I didn't go to the balcony because it had a lock on it and i was too lazy to get the keys from downstairs but look what I found... The Express Tribune, a Pakistani publication, reports exactly the same thing that I talked about; proxy sites and how tech-savvy Pakistanis are still using Facebook making PTA's effort of blocking Facebook only a symbolic gesture. Here is the link to the article.