Canadian fondness for online social networking site rubbing off onto Afghan colleagues

C8

THE CANADIAN PRESS

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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Aside from its military and development work, Canada's biggest contribution to the war effort in Afghanistan may well be Tim Hortons coffee.

But it seems Canadians could be responsible for another export that's gaining popularity among Afghans in particular - Facebook.

Once the record holder for the world's largest number of Facebook users per capita, Canada's love of social networking appears to be rubbing off in Afghanistan.

Although much of the war-torn country faces high rates of poverty, illiteracy and a lack of electricity, there are nonetheless more than 6,000 users registered to the Afghanistan network.

Many are Canadian, American and European ex-patriates working in Afghanistan in areas like development, security and diplomacy, while others are native Afghans who left their turbulent country to take up residence in the west.

Still, a number are local Afghans who work with foreigners and who, in some cases, were introduced to the website by their non-Afghan colleagues.

One young man who works with Canadians in Kandahar City, where the bulk of the country's 2,500 troops are based, said he first started using Facebook in 2002.

"I used to have Facebook when I was in college but I deactivated my account and joined it back after a Canadian colleague told me about the benefit of staying in touch with your friends and co-workers," said the 22-year-old.

He asked that his name not be used since working with foreigners is the sort of thing that could get somebody killed in Afghanistan.

"Facebook is the easiest way to keep in touch with your friends. You can upload pictures and all sorts of information that you would like to share with your friends."

Among a minority of Kandaharis who have Internet access at home, he uses it there almost daily and admits it can be "very time consuming." He currently has 62 friends and figures about a third of them are fellow Afghans. The rest are westerners he's met through his job.

"It is growing rapidly among those Afghans who interact with the international community," he said. "It is mostly popular among Afghans who work with westerners."

A fellow Afghan friend and colleague said he started using Facebook in January after learning about it from a Canadian soldier. Prior to that, he says, he was using MySpace, which he still uses and actually prefers.

The 23-year-old said while he generally uses Facebook to keep in touch with Canadian friends who comprise the bulk of his contacts, it's also a way of "meeting new female friends," something that's not easy in Afghanistan where there are strict religious customs that forbid interaction between non-married men and women who are not related.