At that price, Facebook’s IPO will raise $16 billion, making it the largest tech IPO in history. It’s the third largest U.S. IPO ever, trailing only the $19.7 billion raised by Visa (V, Fortune 500) in March 2008 and the $18.1 billion raised by automaker General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) in November 2010, according to rankings by Thomson Reuters.

There are still a few more steps before Facebook’s shares are ready to trade. The company is waiting for the Securities and Exchange Commission to declare its IPO effective — the formal green light Facebook and its underwriters need before they can sell shares to outside buyers.

[via CNN]

HP hopes to provide a printer, copier and scanner that users can carry on the road, just like laptops. At 6.8 pounds (3 kilograms), the multifunction device is lighter than stationary inkjets, making it easy to move inside homes or between work sites. The printer measures 13.98 by 6.95 by 3.52 inches (350 by 171 by 90 millimeters).

While the OfficeJet 150 is a breakthrough in design, the all-in-one feels as bulky as a high-end gaming laptop, and may not be practical to carry to work on a daily basis. The device is priced at US$399, which is relatively high compared to HP’s standard all-in-one inkjet multifunction devices, which are available starting at under $100. The OfficeJet 150 will start shipping worldwide this month.

The printer is targeted at mobile professionals such as contractors or insurance agents who need mobile printers as they move between locations, said Eric Killian, a product manager for printing at Hewlett-Packard. The multifunction device is also easier to share among multiple computers at home.

Facebook has launched a new app, this time dedicated to fan pages. It’s said to work in a similar way as the main Facebook app, but centres around your page for business or personal use so you can monitor activity on your page wherever you happen to be.

Starting today, we’re rolling out an improved design for posts in news feed on your mobile phone. Now photos are up to 3x larger, and all posts will fill your mobile screen from edge to edge. The new design will be available on iOS, Android and m.facebook.com. Check out some before/after screenshots below.

[Via Facebook]

Building on the momentum of the New York Forum, launched in June 2010 by former Davos producer and Clinton Global Initiative and Nobel Laureates Conference co-founder Richard Attias, the first “New York Forum AFRICA” will take place in Libreville, the capital of Gabon, from June 8-10, 2012. The New York Forum AFRICA is being hosted by President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba.

This Forum aims to become the largest conference for economic leaders, young entrepreneurs, sovereign and investment funds, political and media leaders, experts and economists who are looking for new business and investment opportunities in Africa.

A corner stone to the NYF AFRICA will be a special taskforce centered on Chinese investment in Africa and a plenary on fostering valuable business and investment partnerships for the future. Key to this will be a delegation of high-ranking government representatives and Chinese business leaders headed by Mr. Chonghui Yang, Vice Chairman of the China Economic and Social Council and Mr. Jianguo Wei, Secretary-General of the China Center for International Economic Exchange and former Vice Minister of Commerce.

In line with its origins and DNA, the New York Forum AFRICA aspires to provide a basis for the development of substantial solutions and propositions in order to propel Africa up to the ranks of the fastest-developing emerging nations.

Taskforces will be created, with an eye towards the establishment of clear development road maps, on a wide array of topics including job creation, education, natural resources, energy, health care, women empowerment, entrepreneurship, promotion of African youth and brains, co-operation with Asia, the US, Europe, the Gulf region, Latin America, sports and the like.

Gabon was retained as the host of the NYF AFRICA in light of its geographic situation at the heart of the continent, its sturdy political stability, and the quality of its infrastructures, as the country will soon be hosting one of the world’s most important sport events: the African Cup of Nations (ACN).

“Gabon is honored to host this prestigious international gathering of financial and economic decision-makers,” said Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of Gabon, “Africa has demonstrated steady growth in the past several years and will be the source of much future global prosperity, so it is important that international business leaders begin to pay close attention to it.”

The NYF AFRICA will partner with the NYF Institute and the Omar Bongo Foundation and China Alliance Communications, whose mission echoes the continent’s determination to spur wide ranging initiatives favoring a modem Africa, and a serene, fulfilled and hopeful African youth.

NYF founder Richard Attias has commented: “In 2012, at a moment when multiple nations, such as the US and European countries are trying to re-ignite their economies, prior to multiple presidential elections, and at the dawn of an Arab Spring that radically transformed the northern part of the African continent, revealing the disarray of millions of young Africans, it appeared to us that is was essential to shed as much light as possible on Africa.” Attias added, “Africa is a continent comprised of over a billion individuals, and which through a renewed vitality and an expected growth of about 5% which attracts the focus of an increasing number of investors, has the potential to become the solution to the world’s economic woes, from being a mere additional problem.”

The NYF Africa will intertwine the IT innovations and interactive potential that have rendered the now widely known NYF so unique to its participants.

The findings of the NYF Africa will be presented to the G20 in Los Cabos, Mexico on June 20, 2012.

Source: Press release

The Nigerian Communications Commission on May 11 fined MTN and Emirates Telecommunications Corp. (ETISALAT) 360 million naira ($2.3 million) each for failing to meet minimum service standards. Bharti Airtel Ltd. (BHARTI) must pay 270 million naira and Globacom Ltd. 180 million naira. The regulator last year threatened to stop operators from signing customers unless they cut the number of dropped calls and improve connections.

“There’s been no cognizance of the challenges we operate in,” MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Brett Goschen said in a May 15 interview in Lagos, the commercial capital. “The standards that they’ve applied arriving at the fines, these are really best world standards.”

MTN is suffering damage to its fiber-optic network in Africa’s biggest oil producer with more than 70 cuts to lines a month nationwide, it said April 25. In northern Nigeria and the capital Abuja, bomb and gun attacks blamed on Islamist militant group Boko Haram are hindering repairs and building of new sites, while in the oil-rich Niger River Delta MTN is facing threats by the rebel Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta of destroying its facilities.

Incidents of sabotage “take out large numbers of sites at one time,” Goschen said. “As you fix it, it goes down again.”

Source: Bloomberg

On Friday, The Next Web reported that, when asked “What is the best smartphone ever”, the iPhone 4S’s assistant replied with the Nokia Lumia 900, after generating its answer based on results from Wolfram Alpha, a service that draws from users reviews across the web.
On Monday, it appeared that Siri had changed its mind, and began answering the question “What is the best smartphone ever” with “You’re kidding right,” “Waitthere are other phones?” and “The one you’re holding.”

CNET reported that Apple had not confirmed that it had changed Siri’s programming to control the answer, but Nokia now believes that Apple is controlling Siri’s responses.

“Apple position Siri as the intelligent system that’s there to help, but clearly if they don’t like the answer, they override the software,” Nokia spokeswoman Tracy Postill told the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday.

CNET reports that Postill’s comment “may have been taken a bit too seriously,” according to another Nokia spokesperson.
CNET notes that when asked what the best tablet ever is, Siri replies: “The Apple iPad is the best. And that’s not just my opinion.”

The competition also gives companies the opportunity to showcase their applications to Operators, Venture Capital Community, Angel Investors and the ICT community at large, and at the same time the chance win prize money for their companies and applications.

This year’s finalists are;
BUSINESS AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT CATEGORY

ENTERTAINMENT CATEGORY

MOBILE SOCIETY CATEGORY

UTILITIES CATEGORY

FINANCIAL SERVICES CATEGORY

Pivot East is currently having coaching and mentoring sessions for the finalists in preparation for the conference. A number of speakers have already confirmed attendance and participation in 5 fireside chats titled;

• Opportunities of entrepreneurship in the East Africa Region
• Financing challenges in the regional technological scene
• Role of corporates in stimulating innovation
• Social impact and the Social enterprise
• Role of innovation in driving the regional economy

The ticket price is Kshs 7,300 and can be purchased in a number of ways.

The campaign, dubbed 3G Campus Offer, will see students from target universities enjoy one month’s free unlimited internet with the purchase of an Orange Internet Everywhere 3G Modem. Orange is the only service provider with an unlimited data offering for its customers. Orange mobile customers currently enjoy unlimited internet for as low as KSh 39 daily, KSh 249 weekly and KSh 990 monthly while the Orange Internet Everywhere 3G modem customers access unlimited internet for KSh 990 and KSh 2,990 on a weekly and monthly basis respectively

The 3G Campus Offer also seeks to increase the adoption and use of Orange data services through the firm’s high speed 3G modems, as institutions of higher learning re-open for another semester this month.

According to the company’s CEO, Mickael Ghossein, the offer is open to campus and college students, part of the youthful market that Orange is targeting.

Mr. Lanre Ajayi, the new president of the association in a paper presented at the just concluded West African ICT Conference and Exhibition (Wafict) in Lagos last week, noted that the country faced bandwidth distribution challenge arising from lack of adequate national transmission backbone and unavailability of spectrum for last mile connectivity.  He also stated that the low demand for broadband was caused by lack of local content and e-services.

Proposing broadband policy intervention, he suggested that government should set a computer and broadband penetration goals, define policy objectives and strategies for e-Government, e-Commerce, IT park development, internet governance, cyber security, internet exchange, spectrum management and outsourcing.

Ajayi, said: “The broadband penetration of Nigeria is said to be about 16 per cent. More than 70 per cent of Nigerian homes should be connected to broadband internet within five years.

“We need to ensure that broadband connectivity is available in all schools – primary, secondary and tertiary, and that all students have access to it, and ensure that every government office is connected to broadband internet.”

Ajayi proposed a 20 per cent computer penetration. “This can be funded through funds from sources like NITDEF, USPF, ETF and PTDF. When these computers, owned by students are shared with parents and other family members at home, it enables the achievement of the proposed 50 per cent broadband penetration,” he said.

To incentivise operators to roll out broadband networks, he said government should encourage them to deepen their investment in broadband network rollout by granting them tax holiday as was done for the GSM rollout.

The ATCON president added: “Government has to take a lead in the adoption of the Internet to provide services. This will not only provide an efficient platform for service delivery, but increase demand for broadband services and create the necessary local traffic.

“To achieve this, FG should as a policy make it mandatory for all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) to adopt e-Government, put all government services online, make all government forms available online, adopt e-Payment which enables the MDAs to accept payment online and make it mandatory for all MDAs to put all non-classified records and documents online.

by Nkem Osuagwu

Starcomms Plc is partnering DexterTech, a universal GSM operator to enhance global roaming via a new Starcomms service, called DexterSIM.

Mr. Logan Pather, the Chief Executive Officer of the company disclosed this in Lagos today, saying the service roams on more than 580 networks, with FREE roaming on more than 100 networks.

The Chief Executive Officer noted that the service came with a Nigerian, UK and optional USA line bundled on a single SIM. DexterSIM offers exceptional call quality and reliability.

Some of the countries that the service allows FREE roaming include South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom, USA, Vietnam, Zambia, UK, USA, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Rep., Denmark, Estonia, Faroes Island, Finland, France, French Guyana, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hungary , Iceland, India and several others. Terms and conditions may apply.

Pather further explained that the partnership will allow cheap local and international calls directly from your mobile phone, reduce international business mobile phone charges by up to 80 per cent, saying one could make calls while traveling at a cheaper rate since DexterSIM works in more than 80 per cent of the world’s most popular destinations with more countries being added on all the time.

The Chief Executive Officer of DexterTech, Adekoyejo Odunaiya said the alliance has worked tirelessly, in order to create this outstanding Starcomms service. He noted that Nigerian subscribers will for the first time, be able to take their Nigerian number abroad and roam absolutely FREE. The value-add makes for a most compelling service.

Odunaiya revealed that Starcomms was poised to revolutionize Nigerian telephony with the DexterSIM service. “Global web, talk and text have been bundled on a single SIM, to ensure that the savvy customer can choose to remain ubiquitous – despite their current location. They remain local, regardless of where they are on the planet. Most importantly, they are charged local fees, even when abroad!”

The service costs N15, 500 for a starter bundle (includes handset and UK/Nigerian SIM, with roaming pre-enabled) or there is a FREE Solo package (Nigerian SIM without any roaming features) available, when N500 credit is purchased. To subscribe to this service, a customer can visit the nearest Starcomms shop in Lagos, or text their current location to 08191026999 for details of the nearest DexterSIM dealer.

Starcomms is the leader in Nigerian economy in the provision of mobile data services and has received consistent recognition and accolades for services in this space since 2007.

Leading telecommunications service provider Airtel Nigeria,has kicked-off another exciting consumer mega SMS promotion tagged Free Millionaires Club, which will transform 100 customers into instant millionaires while 500 others will step up their social status with the latest Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Reloaded tablets complete with free200MB worth of data bundled on this ultra-modern, slim Android device.

Interestingly, and for the first time in the history of Nigeria’s telecoms industry, Airtel has provided a window for customers to enjoy free entry into the N1, 000,000.00 (one million naira) daily draw for the first 7 days of subscription without any charge.

To register and participate in the Airtel Free Millionaire promo, customers should simply send the keyword “FREE” to the short code 3030. Customers will enjoy a 7 day FREE participation period in winning the N1million.A charge of N100 daily applies thereafter and subscribers will be automatically awarded 10 tickets to increase their chances of winning in the daily draws. Those who do not have N100 in their account will be charged N50 to qualify for the draw but will earn half of the full 10 tickets.

What’s more, subscribers to the promo can further increase their chances of becoming millionaires or owners of Samsung Galaxy 7.0 Reloaded tablets, by engaging in the question and answer trivia game for N10 per SMS by sending the keyword “OK” to the short code 4040.

Every day, the three top players with the highest score in the trivia will be awarded with a Samsung Galaxy tablet each, while they keep their full chances of winning the N1 million.

Announcing the promo, Airtel’s Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director, Deepak Srivastava said the latest promo is yet another opportunity for the company to create fun and excitement for its customers and also reward them financially and materially for their loyalty to the brand.

“We have a rich history in matching our words with actions through impactful propositions and offerings that provides our customers the comfort and delights for staying with the Airtel brand. Here again, we shall, through this process, change the lives of over 700 of our customers especially for those who will need such upliftment to fulfill a lifetime dream of financial freedom, comfort or social relevance”, Srivastava stated.

He stated that, as usual, the company has engaged the services of a world-class systems, processes and applications audit firm, Alexander Forbes, to supervise the draws and prize redemption processes to further demonstrate transparency in the entire process while sustaining Airtel’s age-long reputation in conducting consumer promotions that are in line with set regulations.

Airtel has provided customers with the freedom to opt out of the promo by texting “Stop” to the short code 3030.

The Airtel Free Millionaire Club promo which is scheduled to run for 100 days is open to new and existing customers on both the prepaid and the postpaid platforms.

Starcomms Plc, Nigeria’s leading Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operator in the telecommunication industry, has introduced Star-Fi, a portable Wi-Fi enabled device. Star-Fi connects up to five devices, such as laptops, portable game consoles or mobile phones to the internet at the same time.

The company has also upgraded some of its sites from EVDO to Rev B in a bid to serve its customers better. Rev B allows for increased broadband data rates; improved network efficiencies and reliability in high speed internet access for the best internet experience in Nigeria.

With Rev B, users can achieve higher data rates with download speeds of up to 9.3 mega bits per second (mbps) and upload speeds of up to 5.4 mbps per second. This service offers the best broadband access and delivers existing applications more efficiently.

Some of the upgraded sites include Oniru, Ketu, Ojodu, Mouka, Abulegba, Ayobo, Agege, Alimosho, Ikeja, Oregun, Ogba, Agidigbi, Ebute metta and Iwaya (all in Lagos).

The chief executive officer of the company, Mr. Logan Pather said the Star-Fi device would support data and SMS services, thereby enabling users to communicate anywhere, adding that, it is bundled with a data offer valid for 90 days.

According to him, the Star-Fi has dimensions of 99.7mm, 53.7mm, 13.9mm and a battery capacity of 1500mAh. It uses a Ruim card and will only work with an EVDO Ruim (OMH Ruim) and the device is available in all Starcomms coverage cities.

He said customers also have the option of getting the Star-Fi router with other data offers other than the one bundled with it. The bundled offer is the Star-Fi router 6GB data offer at a price of NGN26, 499; the 6GB offer is valid for 90 days. However the Star-Fi only is offered at a price of N19,999.

Starcomms Plc is noted for bringing cutting edge products from the world’s best manufacturers and innovative services to its customers across Nigeria. It has been at the forefront of bringing innovative services to its customers. The company has been adjudged since 2007 as the CDMA network of the year by top telecommunication industry watchers.

There is one model that seems to work very well in this world: you need a very good education to make it to the top global companies. You need to have been to Harvard, Yale or even some iconic Law Schools to make it to the U.S. Supreme Court where majority of the members attended Ivy League universities.

In Goldman Sachs, you need that touch of Wharton, HBS, Stanford, among others to have a chance. They have a minimum ceiling that you must cross before you even get looked at.

In management consulting companies like Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey, Monitor, and more, you must have graduated from a highly ranked university. In short, BCG lists only the schools they hire from and most times, they hire from only the top 15 ranked schools.

Have the mind of Thomas Edison, the one of Michael Dell, the one of Larry Ellison,  Bill Gates (actually not true because he was a Harvard student!, the same goes for Mark Zuckerberg), Steve Jobs, among others, you will not qualify to work in any of these companies. No matter how smart you are today, the best way to get into Facebook, if you do not have a college degree from a highly ranked U.S. or European school is to build a company and ask Facebook to acquire you and the company. Anything less than that is not going to work because they have about 10 schools they hire their engineers – MIT, Stanford, Ann Arbor, CMU,  Oxford, and few other ones.

Not in these schools, do not apply. It is that simple. You have skills, who cares? You do not have the certificates. Simply, this is why schools are ramping up academic school fees because they know those certificates will be the selling point to your future and no matter what they do, people will come. The school you attended in America contributes more than 60% of the success you may have in life, we think!

Do not get us wrong. When a lady was nominated by George Bush to replace one of the  U.S. Supreme Court Justices that retired. The lady was qualified. But she got her Law degree from Methodist University in Texas. The Congressmen were so annoyed that Bush will send someone not educated in the preferred schools for confirmation. The woman withdrew. They later quickly passed Justice Robert and Samuel Alito who went to Harvard and Princeton respectively.

In Nigeria, that thinking is not entrenched. It is safe to say that people have a chance if they just attend any school. Of course, we have noticed that the Federal Universities of Technology graduates get more extra look by the energy companies. But that is not a widespread phenomenon. Where many of your Congressmen hold only SSCE/WASC/GCE attempted (NO Pass needed, just attempt), people will be insane to complain that you did not go to Ibadan or Nsukka or Zaria.

So, we try to conclude this piece that the best way to build a team is not to look too much on their academic qualifications. Rather, you have to evaluate them and focus on the talents. Schools or certificates do not do the jobs, human beings still do. That does not mean that you will not consciously understand that any child that could get into MIT must have been very good to have even been admitted. That tells you the child must have done extra works to stay ahead of the crowd. Yet, that he went to MIT does not mean he is the best in the application pool. Why? “Steve Jobs” that has no degree  could also be in that pool and you just overlooked him!

Author: Ndubuisi Ekekwe

Take a query like [taj mahal]. For more than four decades, search has essentially been about matching keywords to queries. To a search engine the words [taj mahal] have been just that—two words.

But we all know that [taj mahal] has a much richer meaning. You might think of one of the world’s most beautiful monuments, or a Grammy Award-winning musician, or possibly even a casino in Atlantic City, NJ. Or, depending on when you last ate, the nearest Indian restaurant. It’s why we’ve been working on an intelligent model—in geek-speak, a “graph”—that understands real-world entities and their relationships to one another: things, not strings.

The Knowledge Graph enables you to search for things, people or places that Google knows about—landmarks, celebrities, cities, sports teams, buildings, geographical features, movies, celestial objects, works of art and more—and instantly get information that’s relevant to your query. This is a critical first step towards building the next generation of search, which taps into the collective intelligence of the web and understands the world a bit more like people do.

Google’s Knowledge Graph isn’t just rooted in public sources such as Freebase, Wikipedia and the CIA World Factbook. It’s also augmented at a much larger scale—because we’re focused on comprehensive breadth and depth. It currently contains more than 500 million objects, as well as more than 3.5 billion facts about and relationships between these different objects. And it’s tuned based on what people search for, and what we find out on the web.

[via Google Blog]

Available in white and black, and coming with HTC Sense 4.0 integrated with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), the HTC Desire C is great as a first smartphone or for those upgrading from an existing one. Packing a powerful battery and offering access to thousands of apps, games, music and movies – available through Google Play – you will always be connected and entertained whether at work, home or on the move.

“Listening to music is one of the most popular things people use their phones for, so it’s more important than ever that we deliver the power and emotion artists capture in the studio,” said Jason Mackenzie, President, Global Sales and Marketing for HTC Corporation. “The HTC Desire C offers customers excellent design, easy access to content and fast connectivity – making it the perfect all round device.”

Authentic sound without compromise

The HTC Desire C features a powerful, yet rich studio-quality sound experience that is enabled through the combination of optimized Beats Audio and amazing hardware. This integration enables a rich, clear audio experience to customers no matter if they’re listening to music or playing a game.

Premium design taken to a new level

Combining a durable metal frame with precision engineering, the HTC Desire C is ideal for those who want a premium-designed phone. Boasting a micro-drilled earpiece for sharp in-call sound, hyper-viewing angle display and metal camera bezel, this compact smartphone offers an unrivalled level of design and user-experience for its class.

Designed for sharing

Packing the latest mobile technology into a neat, eye-catching design, HTC Desire C’s vibrant 3.5-inch HVGA screen makes it easy to browse the Web, view photos or connect with friends and family. If you like to share personal experiences with your social network, HTC Desire C’s 5 megapixel camera and instant sharing capabilities will allow you to post any moment, seconds after it was captured.

Through HTC Desire C’s deep integration of Dropbox and 25GB of free online space[i], you also have the freedom to securely back-up, browse and share thousands of photos, videos and documents, whether stored locally or in the cloud.

Ensuring that HTC Desire C keeps pace with new mobile services as they become available there is also an NFC variant of this model, allowing users to make payments or access information and offers.

“Firefox for Android Beta has all of the features you know and love like Firefox Sync, add-ons and tabbed browsing, plus a new Awesome Screen and enhancements to startup and response time, graphics performance and panning and zooming,” Mozilla said.

“We are always working on a beta here at Mozilla, but this one is special because we’ve done a lot of extra work to add features, improve performance and address things that make mobile browsing faster and easier.”

It is written in Java, unlike earlier editions of the app, which brings with it a number of improvements. The new app offers faster load times, an improved interface and support for Adobe Flash.

[Source: Mozilla]

It is a new world, one where we are socializing more in the digital world but becoming less connected in the meatspace. Some college dorm roommates prefer to chat about living conditions than talk though seated inches apart. And most of the things they know about each other is from Facebook feeds. The students may not be accused of being less physically social, but they have become narcissistic in the online world. In Facebook, it is either you “Like” something or nothing since there is no “Dislike” button.

Because comments leave footprints, not everyone wants to be critical online. Accordingly, a perpetual unchallenged lifestyle around a circle of supportive friends is nearly guaranteed.  So, one can post “I dressed great today” and expects those “Likes” though no physical acquaintance even noticed the attire. Simply, we can build the world we imagine online and then live in it by carefully selecting who follows us. It is an escape from reality and that is why the online social phenomenon will remain huge.

The result is that more kids are moving to the Facebook nation with a population of more than 900 million people. It is a virtual nation where you can rediscover old friends and classmates with new ones coming because there is no immigration obstacle for those in most countries. It is a frontier discovered by a college dropout whose population continues to thrive with the bankers, the citizens, and the rulers all getting along unlike the physical counterpart where the 99% are angry with the 1%.

And the main job description for the citizens is simple: connect, share, watch and have fun. You can build an empire that has eluded you for ages and buy things by depleting your physical world. Your ambition and appetite are easily met: Want to be the boss? Play a game. Own farms? No problem.  It is a nation of limitless lifestyle opportunities which only imagination and time can restrict. This is the ideal Keynesian economy where austerity in banished because the rulers have the capacity to spend unconstrained. But it is a fantasy – life value is still measured in the physical. You can be a mogul as a Facebook citizen, but still starving in your native country.

Few weeks ago, the Atlantic ran a cover story, “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” by novelist Stephen Marche, and notes that new research suggests that social media is making us lonelier with potential consequence of mental and physical illness. However, sociologist Eric Klinenberg debunked the article arguing that “What distinguishes Americans is not that we are more isolated, but that we spend more time and energy worrying about whether we are.”

But irrespective of what the experts say, I do experience disconnection in some young graduates that are joining the workforce. They may not be lonely, but they are self-absorbed. They suffer detachment between two nations – one of social media and the other of physical reality. By constantly joggling them, they experience personal conflicts – one is under their control, the other is not. And continued indifference to physical awareness arising from fanatical indulgence in social media does affect their work outputs. The boss is talking, someone is checking Facebook. Alas, while in one nation, everyone is a friend; in the other, the boss does fire. Indeed, there is a price for constantly migrating between nations when one is paying the bills.