Section Two: Contact, contact, contact.

No, the title of this section does not refer to the NZ-based energy company. I'm talking in terms of emotional contact when apart from friends that you see at school but who you miss when you arrive home. I'm talking in terms of emotional contact when you are overseas, whether that be visiting another country, or, more permanently, immigrating. Moving away from home can be extremely difficult. Trust me, I've done it. I moved to the beautiful Aotearoa from England at the tender age of 13. This was in a time, and yes there was a time believe it or not, when Facebook did not yet exist. It was 2005, and to be quite honest people my age were excited about having a new email address that they could call their own.

I genuinely expected to be friends with one girl, Rachel, forever. But I was so wrong. I would email her on a regular basis, recieving replies few and far between. You see, here's the thing: when you check your email, that's all you do. There's nothing to keep you glued to the computer screen. But with Facebook's many applications and gaming opportunities, friends are kept online for longer, making it easier to catch them on chat for a chat. And on top of this, if you really feel the need, you can post on their wall or send them mail. That's right, folks, there are THREE ways to contact someone if you want. You can also take the annoying approach and 'poke' them. This shows up on their homepage and can begin a 'poking' battle.

Long distance relationships are renowned for being difficult to keep up. I myself have never been in one, but have had friends in the past who are desperately trying to maintain it. Others, who are members of fb (as it is known on the street/ in a text message/ in shorthand) have an easier time doing so because they can leave cutesie messages on their lover's wall, email them, and chat to them using the handy chat app.

Facebook has also reunited individuals with people they went to school with way back in the summer of '69. Its handy search bar means you can simply type in the full name of the person you're looking for, the scour through the candidates until you find them! If the search has too many suggestions, you can narrow your search down by 'filtering the results'. This nifty button allows you to search in terms of current workplace, current whereabouts, and any of the places where they were educated. Can you say handy?

On this site, the writer of the article claimed that first and foremost, Facebook is so addictive because "it's really fun to catch up with a lot of people, all day long, quickly." I couldn't agree more. Now that I have successfully fb-friended all of the people I grew up with in England, aswell as all of my friends here in NZ, there is always a bunch of people online, regardless of the time. 5am: all my UK mates are home from work. 12pm: all my UK mates are on in the middle of the night and my NZ mates are on their lunch break. It's fast and easy and effective. Keeping in contact made easy through the wonders of Facebook!