Facebook reached the landmark of 300 million users on 16 September. It must have been a thing to celebrate for its creator Mark Zuckerberg but not for those who have lost their loved ones to this addictive social networking site. And to make sure that their woes don't end any soon, the website says it has started generating enough revenues to keep it operational. Sigh. Here's a story of three close friends who realized the power of Facebook.

Once upon a time, there were three close buddies--Tom, Dick and Harry. They were born on the same day in a village community hospital. Once they got to know each other when they were old enough to sprint on the playground grass and pluck all the beautiful jasmine and roses off the shrubs, they had always been together. They would steal mangoes from the orchard, tie a tin canister to a poor cow's tail and go fishing in the river with their self-made rods. When they grew old, they were enrolled in the village school. Now the mischievous trio would go about teasing poor Lucy and be made to stand against the wall outside the classroom. All this together. They enjoyed it.

And then one day in their computer class, they go to know about this great website that gave "people the power to share and make the world more open and connected".

"Will it bring us even closer?" asked Dick.
"Of course, that's what it is for," said Tom.

So the three friends registered themselves on the website and added each other as friends. They were happy--the whole world now knew they were so close friends.

Now when Harry got his pup, he posted the picture of the little creature on his Facebook wall, Tom and Dick liked it. Harry even posted the pup's barking sound in is Facebook. "Doesn't he sound cute?" he asked his friends on Facebook. "Yeah, the pup is great," they wrote. They were able to share all their stuff on Facebook. Tom and Dick did not have to come to Harry's house to play with the pup as they had done when he had got his rabbit.

Soon the trio started hanging out in Yoville, the Facebook town. They also played Mafia on Facebook. They worked on their farms in FamVille and also helped each other in their chores on Facebook.  Before they could realize, they had started spending all their time together on Facebook. Now they were together even at night, sitting before the glowing computer screens in their homes.

"Isn't Facebook great? We are now always together." wrote Tom after a few weeks of their stay on Facebook. The other two couldn't stop nodding affirmatively.

And there after the trio always remained together as friends on Facebook, though now they hardly met each other on playground.

Facebook is great in allowing people to stay connected but it shouldn't be like Tom, Dick and Harry. Stay connected on the playground. Hangout in pubs in your city, not just in Yoville. Have a farm in the country and grow fruits and vegetables that your friends can enjoy for real. Don't just have Facebook friends, have friends.