Brought to (Face)book

Others have simply ruined a relationship or curtailed a burgeoning career in data entry, but Maxi Sopo's social networking addiction has landed him in a Mexican jail.

After moving to Seattle in 2003, the 26 year-old Cameroonian is alleged to have taken part in $200,000 worth of bank fraud, after which he did the sensible thing of absconding to Cancun for some well-earned downtime.

Less sensible was his decision to join Facebook and post regular updates about how he was now "living in paradise". Even less sensible was his online befriending of a former US justice department official.

Once he realised Sopo was on the run, he happily passed on his details to Mexican authorities, who soon had the hapless hedonist in custody. His final Facebook entry simply said "loving it". Maybe they should let him change his status one last time.