You know that Facebook has become an unhealthy obsession when, every time the format is modified or additions are made, you have a mini meltdown.
That is what happened when the news ticker was introduced, then quickly followed with a timeline. I felt cheated – it was as if somebody had snatched my diary while I was asleep and redesigned it.
But, unsurprisingly, it only takes about a month to get used to each change, until the next rude interruption comes along.
The latest on Facebook is the “you have memories” feature, a notification that pops up and presents you with a history of what you did on that particular day each year since joining the social network.
I immediately took to it because it offers something soulful, making you to think back to old memories.
Each day I am reminded of the new “friendships” I have made along the way – some connections are real, with people whom I meet and see often, while others remain in the virtual world.
It also reminds me of life’s simple pleasures. Such as the taste of the amazing shawarma that I had on Electra Street in Abu Dhabi. It came on the back of an illness and was the first real meal I had eaten – and enjoyed – that week.
Last month I realised I had an FB friend with whom I hadn’t spoken for 18 months. Where before I would have felt awkward to say hello after such a long period of silence, I nevertheless used the notification – that popped up exactly five years to the day we became FB mates – as an excuse to reconnect. I have been enjoying the renewal of our friendship ever since.
Of course, there are bad days, too, the kind you would rather forget. I like to think that I am not the sort of person who whines on social media, but I do remember putting up on FB what at the time seemed like casual posts, yet were the result of the emotional upheaval I was going through.
Then there are the articles I shared with my friends and acquaintances, one of them about the importance of breathing. When I first posted it in April last year, it was because it had taught me a valuable lesson in how to get through a difficult experience. Seeing it recently was a useful reminder to slow down and I was surprised by the emotions it evoked. But I didn’t try to suppress the memories associated with it; instead, I looked back with a sense of satisfaction and gratitude, especially for the friends who were there to help me through that dark time (it did involve sending out several thank-you emails, but that’s another story).
Now, when I wake up each morning and look forward to my daily notification on FB, I am reminded of the old saying “all things must pass”. It has taught me that bad days are followed by good ones, health follows sickness, new friends are made while old friends move on – and, perhaps most importantly, that insight often comes with a little perspective.
sasaeed@thenational.ae
'Morbius'
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Stars: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona
Rating: 2/5
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
'Peninsula'
Stars: Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun, Lee Ra
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Rating: 2/5
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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Rating: 4.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
