Give us space to breathe!
WORKU BELACAHEW
 

Tadele Hordoffa,75, is a resident in Addis. He used to engage in his own private business before retiring some seven years from now, due to health reasons. To him it is too difficult to stay the entire day at home. His daily routine begins in visiting the nearby chapel for a morning prayer. Then the prolonged traditional coffee ceremony at his home together with other minor activities he engages himself in help him spend his time. But, he expresses staying  the time between 4 and 1pm at home as horrible.  'For a person of my own age walking or sitting  by the road sides have both recreational and health values,' he said. However,  from my residence around Saris till  Meskel square you could not get any rest stops by the road sides, I expected that the construction of the exchange road around Gottera might bring us comfortable green space with certain recreational facilities, of course it has open space in the middle, but still goes without any infrastructures, I tell you the capital is not suitable for persons like me ” he adds.
    

Bezawit Alemu, 7, lives with her parents around Megenagna. She long awaited the conclusion of this school year. This is not because she hate going to school, but her parents promised to buy a bicycle for her if she scores good marks and promoted from Upper kindergarten to grade one. The tot luckily did scoring the highest rank from her class and won the promised bicycle. No one, however, predicted that they have no safe place in their compound to ride the bicycle. Sadly, nor it is available in their neighborhood. All the previous open spaces which served as a play field have been occupied.

    

The 125 years diplomatic hub of Africa and capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, is getting its rebirth. The capital's previous defining characters like shanty and slum neighborhoods now see a light of redevelopment as these places turn to high rise condominium houses. Roads of various kinds are constructed or are under construction. Yet the city's development is not a fully-fledged one-many agree. There is a symptom of increasing concrete jungle in the capital. Most places which were reserved for public space are engulfed by illegal constrictions. Similarly, many of the spaces which are  delineated for green areas are not developed while some of the parks with good facilities are unable to give services. The trend completely against the capital's master plan that envisaged to create safe and livable city. 
    

Abebaw Sentie is director of Urban Planing and Information Institute at the Addis Ababa City Administration explains; Environmental Protection is among the grand components of the city's already concluded ten years master plan. This is a generic term which include main social and municipal services include festival, trade fair, sport and recreation, green areas near rivers, parks, cemetery, fire brigade and so on. To mention, but few of them,  festival sites like Jan meda the largest available open space in the north-east;  a place around  Hana Mariam in the west and there is also a place reserved for same purpose  in the east around CMC. To put it in figures 40%  (around 22000 hectares) of the total land  mass (54 000hectars) was reserved to serve these purposes, Abebaw added. This time the revision of the capital's master plan is on its way. Surely, it helps us get the prevailing conditions of these places as we will collect data pertinent to that. But, our general  evaluation has indicated that most of the open spaces are either grabbed for illegal construction or do not get the appropriate attention by the concerned authorities.
    

Abebaw also unveils that due to the traditional settlement in Addis some of the places near the river sides already populated. According to him it needs a huge budget to relocate the settlers. Being this the fact, not a few of the  river sides are consumed by illegal housing constructions.
   

 In his Masters thesis titled Open space provision in residential areas: critical evaluation of selected cases in Addis Ababa (July 2005)   Architect Yeneneh Chanelew identified certain issues which  had to be addressed regarding residential open spaces in the capital. To mention but few;  the various city plans of the capital overlooked the importance of open space particularly in residential areas which could have been considered as an integral part of the open space system of the city. As a result, the spaces were disconnected or given loose function. Thus, he suggested the consideration of compressive city plan that reinstate the already available open spaces. According to him the provision of open space would be best when it is matched with the spacial need of inhabitants and the role of the open space. More importantly, he argued that a detailed urban and landscape design guideline has an escalated importance in determining the location of open spaces,the management of facilities in it like; seats,street lights, telephone booths,fountains and so on. The availability and proper management of these facilities would increase the number of people enjoy and stay in these places,he wrote. 
    

Yeneneh  said the capital has registered a good progress than it was seven years from now when he conducted his masters thesis. Yet, the absence of aforesaid guideline is felt as there is hardly  successful open space in the city. Still, there are opportunities to provide Addis with successful open spaces, according to him. For one thing, we can model best practices from other successful cities. Not only that, there are also many bad experiences of other cities. Thus, it is possible to draw the best out of these. He also perceives the redevelopment works as good opportunities to reallocate open spaces.
    

From the practices, observed in the capital it is easy to infer the absence of  a proper guideline to manage open spaces. The relatively green belt parks which are enriched by the famous business man Sheikh Al-Amoudi at Minelik II avenue; Africa and Millennium parkd, for instance are still closed for public use, only one of them Addis Ababa park is serving. Due to that the facilities in the other two parks are spoiling. On the other street par,k around Sidest Kilo, near ministry of finance and economic development, anonymous body posted a plate read 'no entrance' on one of the trees. Many play grounds in most neighborhoods are engulfed for high rise buildings. Leave aside that, pedestrians are getting hard time hustling with vehicles  as high rise buildings compete the side walks for parking lot.
    

Various researches support the notion that open spaces offer health benefits through giving residents mental relief from the stress of concrete jungle urban life. People can be a passive participants of green space through watching birds and listening to their songs, getting fresh breeze and  spend time sitting or reading. Besides,  when open spaces are attractive and accessible, people are more likely to be active participants on the places like engaging in physical activities which directly improve their health.  Yeneneh also builds on  that saying; there are general  indicators as small kids and youngsters are full of energy. Thus, the availability of well managed play fields are means to release this energy. Besides, it is children's behaviors to play. Open spaces  also comforts senior citizens, pensioners, people with disabilities. City is not only the road and buildings, green value itself is part and parcel of a standard city, he concludes.

Addis Abol : Haile-Selassie Lions genetically distinct (title ...

Addis Abol : Haile-Selassie Lions genetically distinct  (title ...: Haile-Selassie Lions genetically distinct  (title is mine) ADDIS ABABA – A pride of captive lions descended from the private menage...

Haile-Selassie Lions genetically distinct  (title is mine)

ADDIS ABABA – A pride of captive lions descended from the private menagerie of Emperor Haile-Selassie of Ethiopia is genetically distinct from all other lions of Africa, a study has found.
 

The Ethiopian lion has a distinctive dark mane and is slightly smaller and more compact than other African lions. Now an analysis of its DNA has revealed the Ethiopian lion is also a distinct breed.
 

It is thought that there may be less than a few hundred Ethiopian lions living in the wild and scientists are urging that their unique genetic makeup should be preserved by a captive-breeding program.
 

DNA tests on 15 of the 20 Ethiopian lions kept in Addis Ababa Zoo have revealed that they form a separate genetic group from the lions of East Africa and Southern Africa, said Michael Hofreiter of the University of York.
 

The male lions are the last lions in the world to possess the distinctive dark brown mane. They are the direct descendants of a group of seven males and two females taken from the wild in 1948 for Hailesellassie's own zoo, Dr Hofreiter said.
 

A comparison with other populations of wild lions living in the Serengeti of Tanzania in East Africa and the lions of the Kalahari desert of south-west Africa found that the Addis Ababa lions are quite separate genetically, he said.
 

“We therefore believe the Addis Ababa lions should be treated as a distinct conservation management unit and are urging immediate conservation actions, including a captive breeding program, to preserve this unique lion population,” Dr Hofreiter said.
 

As a species, lions are under threat and their numbers have dwindled over the decades, with the biggest populations centered on East Africa and Southern Africa, with a tiny population of Asiatic lions existing in the Gir Forest of India.
 

Two lion populations that shared the dark brown mane of the Ethiopian lion - the North African Barbary lions and the South African Cape lions - have already gone extinct in the wild.
 

Susann Bruche of Imperial College London, the leading author of the study published in European Journal of Wildlife Research, said that it is important to preserve the genetic diversity of the Ethiopian lions to protect the species as a whole.
 

“A great amount of genetic diversity in lions has already been most likely lost, largely due to human influences. Every effort should be made to preserve as much of the lion's genetic heritage as possible,” Dr Bruche said.
 

“We hope field surveys will identify wild relatives of the unique Addis Ababa Zoo lions in the future, but conserving the captive population is a crucial first step,” she said. (Independent.co.uk)

Water supply shortage in Addis

BY WORKU BELACHEW
 

Mekedes Belele is working as cashier at Trinon cafe & restaurant, one of the famous recreation spots found adjacent to cinema Ethiopia. She bitterly complains the regular water supply cuts experienced in their surrounding explains; “When customers come to enjoy our warm service in the evenings, it is much tougher for us. This is because of the regular absence of water in the pipe. Due to that, our restrooms could not function, we could not serve water with meals customers' order, as you know most of us depend on tap-water for drinking. Customers does not like to have either water from water tank or jerrycans. As a result, we face many challenges from most customers and it is a huge problem to us.” she said.

Most managers of famous hotels, cafe & restaurants and owners of small business also share  what Mekedes says and adds that this trouble even creates frequent clashes with customers. Owner of a hotel who declined to be named around Haile-Selassie venue ,for instance, said; “most people who rent my hotel rooms are too upset when they are told there is no water in the pipe. I could not relay on my water tank because we use much water for various purposes, it will not be used for prolonged hours. And some customers even take it as I intentionally deed that to foster the selling soft drinks and packed water.” 
Yitayish Alemu was taking a glass of coffee with milk at one of the cafés found at Arada Building -piazza. What she said also proves the magnitude of the problem faced by the aforementioned guys. “what I abhor from waiters around here is when they suggest me have soft drink or packed water as they are running out of tap water. I do not have a plan for neither of the drinks. Above all, I have the right to get tap water for free. ”  According to most of the business owners found around Arada Sub-city they collect water from remote places with additional costs both to buy water and transport it.

Almaz Tenaw is another lady whom this writer approached around sidest kilo as she was marching to the neighborhoods around Ras-Mekonen bridge on 17th of September. She said it had been four days since the supply of pipe water was unavailable. She did not know the reason for that. She carried empty twenty five liters of  jerrycan  to buy water from one shop for two birr. “If I managed to endure the long queue and get water, it will take me more than thirty minutes of walk, caring the full jerrycan,  to reach my home. This irregularity made me even to fill out a half day leave from my work place, ”   she sadly uttered.

Recently water supply breakage has become a day to day experience for most resident of Addis. Among the most loved  household properties, jerrycans of various types- originally made for palm oil package__have joined almost each households to transport tap water from remote areas when there is service interruption. What fuels the problem more is, previously if pipe water is not available in some neighborhood, one may collect it from the near by , but now when the service is interrupted it covers a large portion of the capital.
“Water supply service interruption has become a defining character of our village these days. I remember a time that  water supply service interrupted was interrupted last year covering a wide area in the city. And the authority told us it was because of faulty construction near a major water supplier pipe line and the blame was said to be on a sub-city officials who permitted this risky construction near the pipe line. In the recent interruption, went early in September, we had been again told it was because of  a theft made on an iron bar structure which supports a  900mm pipe line  found under Kebena Bridge. So, when does this accusation ends?” Aregawi Gebre whom the writer of this piece met around Kotebe , eastern Addis Ababa, questions.

Contrary to the complains of customers, the service interruption helped few people in the city, like Yalew Andarege. He came to Addis from Gojjam-North western Ethiopia- recently with full vision to collect enough money engaging in labor. “I charge people who let me carry their jerrycans based on the volume the jerrycan contain and the distance of their residents. I can work up to 60 birr a day,” he said. According to him twenty five liters of water costs three birr and above depending on the willingness of the retailers. And he hustles more than thirty minutes to get turn enduring the long line.‫ ‪

The country has set major goals to maximize the supply of potable water and irrigation development during the GTP period, among which is to reach sustainable water coverage -with in the range of half of a kilometer-to a daily supply of twenty liters per head and maximize the coverage from a little more than ninety one percent in 2011  to hundred percent at the end of the GTP period, in urban areas. To meet the set goals at a city level Addis Ababa Water and Sewage Authority is undergoing various projects according to the Authority's Water Supply and Distribution Core Process deputy manager Tesfalem Bayou, explains; “ we have various projects aimed to alleviate the current  shortage of potable water in the capital. One of the projects is  Akaki underground water development, south of the capital, which is intended to supply around 140 000 cubic meter of water and legedadi surface water dam expansion project which again is intended to supplly around 30 000 cubic meter as well as local bore holes. He said these projects will see completion in the coming two years. He also unveiled that at current, though water supply coverage has reached 93 per cent, the distribution has faced irregularity due to shortage of water. Due to that, he said, we are forced to implement rationing. Thus, some places get water in two days, while others only in the day time or at night time, but the majority gets twenty four hours. Places with high elevation also could not get the service regularly due to less pumping capacity.

The rapid expansion and growth of the capital has, obviously, become a great factor in increasing the demand for potable water. On top of that, the construction boom in the city which also primarily depended on potable water has exacerbated the water shortage of the city to a more grater extent. Not only that, some residents also attribute the shortage to poor management of water by both households and construction firms.  A senior citizen who has lived in the capital for more than thirty years, Tadesse Gebre whom the writer approached says: “Among the grand factors accounting for the shortage of tap water in the city one could be mismanagement pipe water which has a huge cost upon production. Most residents, for instance, have no awareness on how to utilize tap water properly. One indication of that might be water used to launder clothes is thrown away, while it can be used to clean restrooms and even floor of living rooms and so on  and consume tap water to clean the aforesaid. Most residents in Addis also do not report when there is  leaky water pipe in their environs timely.” 

According to Tadesse it is up to the authority to raise the public's awareness on the proper utilization of tap water. Residents can collect rain water for cleaning purposes. In so doing, they can save their cost for soapy detergents as rain water help produce more lather because it is soft water. This means it has economical advantage for customers of the authority. In the construction industry as well rain water harvesting can have some advantages like bringing their water bills to the minimum. Apart from producing more potable water the authority need to boost its awareness raising activities to register better results, Tadesse concludes.

Beneficiaries of the housing scheme 40/60

Residents of Addis Ababa (Person with identification from Kebele)
A person who has no house registered to his/her name or of their spouse
The person need to confirm as s/he has no house registered to their names
Diaspora saves money in foreign currency
If 40 percent of the cost of the house is saved, in less than 5 years, the person can have priority

If 100 percent of the payment is made the person can get the house immediately

If one could not save money for three months in row, S/he will subject for cancellation.

kinds                                                   Saving per month
one bedroom 128 000                         875.00 per 
two bedrooms 200,475                       1,333.00
three bedrooms 320 000                    2,1333.00

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Addis' Structural plan sees completion this fiscal year: office

BY WORKU BELACHEW

                                                can this be hatched?

ADDIS ABABA- City Planning Project Office of Addis Ababa (CPPOAA) said it has collected primary data on an existing land use of the city from one hundred sixteen Weredas, found in the capital as part of its efforts to see the completion of new structural plan of the city at the end of this fiscal year.

CPPOAA Deputy manager Lealem Berhanu told the Ethiopian herald that the ongoing efforts to realize the project in cooperation with Oromia Special Zone (OSZF), which help to deepen mutual benefits among OSZ and the capital, the need to fitting the plan with the requirements of the GTP and the consolidation of contemporary city planing strategies like, integrated land use with urban transportation, among others are the distinctive markers for the plan making it new urban development plan than a mere revision.

According to lealem the Master Plan, still in effect, has been better enforced than the previous ones hence has advanced the city meaningfully. He further pointed out that two evaluations have been carried out on the implementations of the Master Plan which has been used over the past decade. One is by Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City development (EiABC) while France based Lyon Town Planing Agency carried out the other. The results of the evaluations have indicated that the implementation has brought a considerable achievement particularly in terms of road and housing constructions. However, the existence of capacity limitations with regard to enforcing the plan and unsatisfactory results of real estate development sub-sector among others are identified as weaknesses, he unveiled.

“The city development plan we are eThe Ethiopian Heraldnriching now will have more rooms for a better enforcement than ever before as it is participatory from its initial stage in all aspects. On top of that, there is a high degree of commitment seen from the government's side which is a plus for the enforcement of any city plan” Lealem added.

Asked whether the coinciding of 125 years anniversary of Addis Ababa with the new project has any additional value for their work Lealem said, the anniversary will have a greater importance to create public awareness on the planing, it also serves us being source of information and eases our job.

Addis Ababa City Plan Revision Project was established by a regulation 43/2001 of the city cabinet and it is working with town planing firms which are said to have international experience thereby come up with a new plan that makes Addis suitable for an all rounded activities.

The Ethiopian Herald, Oct-10

Vacancy announcement

 Employer-Mizan Tepi University

Position: Public relations expert 

Qualifications- BA MA and above in English Journalism 

Experience-6/4 respectively 

Salary 2570.00

Place of work-Mizan Tepi University

Contact address-  +251 913 99 12 03

Employer-Gullelle Botanical centre Addis Ababa

Position-IT expert 

qualifications-BA in IT or Computer Science and above

Experience- five year and above

Salary- PS-7 as to the scale of the institution 

Contact address  011-1-275- 335

Both, 7 days after announcement on Addis Zemen 

Please see Addis Zemen Meskerem 24,05 for more

Addis Abol : Social networking sites- utilizing for the better...

Addis Abol :  Social networking sites- utilizing for the better...:  Social networking sites- utilizing for the better! BY WORKU BELACHEW      Social Networking Sites (SNS) are only a decade long ph...

 Social networking sites- utilizing for the better!

BY WORKU BELACHEW
    

Social Networking Sites (SNS) are only a decade long phenomenon. However, today SNS has championed in affecting the lifestyle of people across the globe. Most celebrities have turned their face to SNS to promote themselves and their businesses, hence, have registered a tremendous successes. One of the most successful SNS, Facebook was created and launched in February 2004 by Harvard students Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes, the site began as a network strictly for Harvard University. Two months later, the site expanded to include other Ivy League schools. After that, the college network slowly grew and by the end of 2004, it had registered more than a million users.
    Today, there are various SNS, created on various bases to serve the diversified interests of users-be it entertainment, professional, academic or whatever.  Many of these sites have succeeded in attracting the attention of youngsters more than any other segment of the society. Recent research findings indicate that Facebook users are between the age 13 and 25 that accounts 46 per cent of the total. Hundreds of thousands of people invest their time on such sites. A good example for that might be the fact that  people watch more than 2 billion video clips daily and every hour users upload an average of 24 hours of video content on youtube.
    Indeed, the innovation narrows the geographical gap between people that live at different places. It also helps in communicating information much faster than any other media. This is the single most important reason for attracting significant number of users to these sites. It is made possible to find out latest events virtually equal to one who has a physical presence to it supported by motion or still  picture, voice or text.
    It is evident that those sites have enormous advantages. However, there are countries that worry about these networking sites. This is simply because SNS could possibly reveal any secrets and incite rebellion against governments as it has been witnessed in north Africa countries. This was also evident in UK during the riot sparked in Tottenham and even made Mr. David Cameron to propose  whether it would be right to stop people communicating via social media. Companies as well are worried about the negative impacts of SNS on their business in various ways, thus, forced to take measures. Accordingly, in May 2011, HCL technologies (A leading offshore IT and software development company)  announced that approximately 50 per cent of British employers had banned Facebook from the workplace. Facebook has been blamed for decreasing employees' productivity and has been called a national obsession by anti-Facebook blogs widely.
    Cases including the stalking of minors, bullying and privacy issues become part of the public debate over social networking. Several minors have been lured into relationships with sexual predators they met online, forcing MySpace and other services to adopt age requirements and other safety measures. Copyright infringement cases have also arisen as a result of the use of music and video clips on personal profiles. Cyber breaches such as defamation from anonymous sources and posting pornographic pictures are also other challenges particularly to Facebook while minor users also tempted the company. Facebook, for instance, removes 20,000 underage users a day. Whereas, Facebook has been blocked in several countries including the People's Republic of China, Iran, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Syria,and Bangladesh for various reasons. 
Is social media a threat to Ethiopia?
    The number internet users is very few compare to the population size of the nation. This could be partly attributed to the limited internet service available, its cost and the high price of devices which help to access internet services. Some foreign studies indicate that the number of internet users in Ethiopia is insignificant compare to even east African countries like Kenya and Tanzania that have 7.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent respectively. However, there is much hope for the expansion of internet service across the nation.
    Tamerat Abebe, Information Technology graduate from Addis Ababa University argues social networking sites are highly expanded at a global level including in Ethiopia. “I could not back my argument with figures but the number of SNS users is increasing. A simple indication of this is, internet cafes shave a considerable number of customers that devote their time on social networking sites particularly Facebook, for the better or worse. There are many people that access internet on their cell phones as well. The expansion of telecom services in the coming few years will for sure increase SNS users.”
    According to Tamerat, there are obvious reasons for the boom of Facebook users worldwide. “One, it is much user friendly and interactive. If you see tweeter, it is rather text based or internet relay chat and has little active users,” he said the growth of Facebook users in Ethiopia relates to the availability of internet connections in private and public institutions. It creates an opportunity for employees and management to use social networking sites. And he said it is a right time to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of SNSs.
    Abel Terefe,16, a high school student whom the writer of this piece met at one of the small internet cafes around Piazza complained that internet houses there could not accommodate more than ten customers at time. He always spends more than an hour a day chatting with his friends. He uses his pocket money for spending time on internet. When he do not have money for his internet fares, he begs his parents to give him their cell phones to use internet. This created a frequent clash  particularly with his mom for it consume her balance. In this Ethiopian academic year, he attends grade 10 and take the national examination. “Most of my classmates have mobile phones and use internet in class,” he said.
    Abel is unease if he does not use Facebook daily. However, he does not know how to relate SNSs with his education; “I have never used Facebook to support my education because the site is only used for entertainment. So, I always post pictures videos, comments and share to friends.” he said.
    According to Tamerat, children need a huge guidance on how to manage their time effectively and use internet for the better. Generally, it is recommended if underage children are prohibited from using sites such as Facebook. In so doing, they can be protected from harassment, abuse, pornographic videos and pictures which are utterly against their mental development. Researches also show that it reduces their cognitive potential as they may  give less time to their education. This also works even for adult users.
    Wisconsin center for education research in one of its article states that  'students who use social networking tools might pay significant hidden cognitive costs. Facebook, Google, and other web services simultaneously seize and fragment of our attention. They can  subvert higher-order reasoning processes, including the kind of focus, concentration, and persistence necessary for critical thinking and intellectual development. Some researchers have correlated heavy Internet use with greater impulsiveness, less patience, less tenacity, and weaker critical thinking skills. The need to rapidly shift from object to object online can weaken students’ ability to control their attention. Prolonged internet use exposes students to interactive, repetitive, and addictive stimuli that produce permanent changes in brain structure and function. The more one uses the internet and social media, the better the brain can skim and scan. Research suggests that these gains degrade the capacity for concentration, reasoning, and reflection.
    Ethiopia has obviously missed the industrial and technological revolutions happened in the 18th  and 19th centuries respectively. Due to that, the country become one of the poorly developed countries in the world and frequently exposed for severe drought and famine. Now the country should never miss the era of Information Technology. This nation need to pay all the costs that help its people to catch up with the dot com revolution sparked by the British engineer and computer scientist  Sir Tim Berners-lee (who innovated World Wide Web) and swiftly expanded across the planet.
    “There is no time to waste. we need to exploit the best out of this young technology. To the very fact we are not required to invest huge amount of finance to invest on software development. But, little effort to utilize the already available technology for free. Look, facebook is a free social networking service and we need to advance our knowledge, creating or joining groups already created which fit our interests,” said Tamrat and added, “teachers can have their own groups and share model practices. Teaching aid which is found effective in Addis Ababa can be communicated to a small remote rural wereda, given that the internet connection is available. Similarly, physicians in various places can draw experiences one from the other. Likewise, students in various schools can use facebook or other social media to get advanced knowledge and skills. Otherwise, hitting “like” and “share” on a funny friends' posts will be only wastage of both time and resources.”
    As it is stated on the nation's set goals of the five year GTP, all telecommunication infrastructures will be digital in the coming years to accommodate the latest information communication technologies; Woreda, cities, academic institutions (High schools and Universities), research institutes, social organizations and the private sector will benefit from the internet services expansion program. In addition, the ongoing network expansion program focuses on building a high capacity fiber optics transmission line which enables full utilization of latest information and communication technologies and via neighbouring countries links it with worldwide marine cables and enhance the global gateway capacity of the country.
    The latest information of Ethio telecom Internet and data services has shown a remarkable surge--a 72 percent increment than the previous fiscal year. Though still customers are complaining about poor mobile network and slow internet connection, provided that the company manage to ensure quality service, there will be a good prospect in the next few years with regard to internet service. But, with equal magnitude much tasks need to be done to aware, particularly, the youth on how to use this technology for the better.
There is a need to invest more to raise the consciousness of the information society here, on how to use the sites for the better. Indeed, parental and teachers guidance for school children are also undeniable facts to put  the new generation on the right truck in this regard coupled with efforts of the media. No doubt, without such efforts the result will be thousands of youngsters with severe cyber addiction and other unbearable societal crises like shyness and unable to mix up with peers as the interaction through SNS is too impersonal, despite the availability of emoticons.