October 31, 2010.
To all you Tweeples,‘Yesterday was 361 updates ago!’ this is what my 9 years-old cousin answered me when I asked him about how was his birthday the previous night. This new literary definition of ‘yesterday’ did not surprise me at all. Then I guessed his current activity; he was uploading snaps of his birthday celebrations on Face book. And I was right! He was happy, all smiling. He was waiting for the comments from his friends and then him replying to them and all of this. However, I was a bit afraid...afraid to see him sitting in front of the computer for hours and hours, just updating things on Face book or tweeting on Twitter. My concern was for both the things; his socializing in the virtual world for hours and his physical inactivity during this time!
A friend of mine updates himself on Face book in a very hilarious way. ‘Good Morning! Will brush now’, ‘Done with the breakfast, will leave for work now’ and ‘Reached home, getting fresh now’. Whoa! Once I asked him, ‘don’t you get bored while updating the same things again and again?’ His reply was like this, ‘No, I don’t. People want to know what others do. And then you can see that all my updates have at least 3 likes!’ I couldn’t ask anything further. The reason being out of those three, one like was by him, himself!
Another friend of mine had changed her relationship status from ‘Single’ to ‘In a Relationship’ and updated all happy smileys on her status. When asked the reason for this new found happiness, she answered that she had found her soul mate and that too, on Face book! She had not even met him. Few days later, I found her profile status with all sad emoticons. And her relationship status had changed to ‘Single’ again. Yes, on Face book!
As I said, these things have ceased to surprise me. Life, itself, is getting a brand new domain now. And that is the world of social networking. A plethora of emotions thrive on the status updates and the ‘likes’ made by people. Not even a single day goes without a fancy and a thought provoking tweet on Twitter. While this new form of socializing gets the centre stage, the quintessential activities of our life have taken a back seat. Ahem!
Social networking was never new to us. Even before Face book, MySpace or Twitter came into the picture, discussion forums used to reign the communication and networking. Eventually though, this communication got a fancy outlook with these highly popular social networking sites. Even we grew with sending mails to each other or chatting online about various things. But we were never so obsessed about it before, as we are now. Today, it will not be an exaggeration if I say that our lives are hugely dependent on this social networking. Then no matter how you try to deny this fact, you can’t really succeed.
The problem arises when people forget their existence for these social networking sites. Being online and updating their accounts is turning fancier to them than going out with friends or playing football. The problem arises when people pour the emotions online to such an extent that some way or the other, they less dignify themselves. The problem arises when they choose their life partners from the virtual world without thinking much of the consequences to be faced later. And the problem arises when people devote most of their time on these socializing domains than giving some time to their lovely parents and friends.
These might not be the problems. I might be wrong. It is quite subjective. May be they do not perceive things the way I do. But the consequences are definitely universal. And I say so very emphatically because the girl I mentioned above, who had found her soul mate online, has gone in a depression. The reason being the boy she had chosen for herself on Face book and was so madly in love with, was a fake account. She showered all her emotions to him through chats but the end result broke her apart. Currently, she is under psychiatric treatment.
I am not trying to generalize things by this one incidence. But don’t we need to get more cautious? The photograph, which you put as your profile picture, can also be misused. Some people reveal so many things about themselves that you can’t help but laugh. These things include the contact numbers, postal addresses to name a few!
Don’t you think that talking to a friend personally can be much more fun than chatting with him online? Don’t you think that emotions can best be felt and nurtured when expressed and showed in real life than the virtual world? Many people might call me ‘opinionated’ for expressing things this way and that I have a narrow mind. No problems! I don’t mind at all.
Aforesaid setbacks notwithstanding, I am not trying to tell you the disadvantages of social networking or that we should stop being on Face book or Twitter. These sites are the best way to connect with the people, with your old friends, with distant relatives and to create an impressive profile of yours. But we shouldn’t forget that life is much more than that…much more than those updates and likes and tweets. And Internet is much more than Face book and Twitter!
So all you tweeples, the next time you tweet around, just think of all these things. Happy life!
FromKalpak Chavan
