An article in an Australian newspaper claims that Facebook is taking over Australian teenagers. Presumably, this applies to teens in the rest of the western world too.

Personally, I always shy away from being over-reactive where social media is concerned, and I think that this article is certainly in that category. Facebook has its dangers, but the advantages of social media outweigh the disadvantages by an extremely long way.

Having said that though, addiction to social media is something we need to be cautious of. For most teens, engaging with Facebook will just be a way of keeping up with friends they are not physically near, but for others it might represent a withdrawal from normal life. 

As youth workers, we need to learn how to spot the difference and how to respond.

Anyway, the article is here if you want a read...