One of the Uzbek tabloids — Bekajon newspaper (literally means Hostess, or Housewife) has published a half a page material on social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter and Odnoklassniki.ru (Russian equivalent of Classmates.com), claiming that these means of entertainment, as well as the Internet itself became as inconceivable part of some people’s lives as TV and cell phones.

With a “Are you one of them?” question the tabloid has presented opinions of four local journalists, including one writing for Bekajon itself, who share their opinion on pros and cons of using social networks — emphasis on “Odnoklassniki.ru.” makes me think that our official media journalists have heard but never actually used Facebook or Twitter — social networks that are a serious threat to the national security of Uzbekistan; Facebook even got banned for some time in fall, 2010.

So, some of the journalists think that, overall, Odnoklassniki is a nice web site to meet old friends. But all of them found something-just-not-right with that social network.

Davron Fayziev, Sports anchor:

“It’s important to know what’s the purpose of using [the social network] and the time one spend on it — it may take too much time and call off one’s attention. [Moreover,] if one gets addicted to it it will be very difficult to get rid of this addiction.”

Anvar Namozov, Editior-in-chief of the Yangi Asr Avlodi:

“I’ve heard about Odnoklassniki [... and] I think that it’s a good idea to stay in touch with your friends. [...] But if ideas get too spread it’s bad. It’s better to adhere to our own Uzbek style get-togethers.”

Gulnoza Tojiboyeva, Bekajon:

“The negative side of it is that sometimes idlers and people without morals leave their senseless thoughts.”

This signal bothers me for one main reason — considering that various insane campaigns first get their start with even tabloids, the work on calling Uzbek internet users re-consider their attitude regarding using social networks. Media in Uzbekistan is a megaphone of those who think about ‘ideological threats’ to the national security of the country 24/7.