Wednesday 21 September 2011

Our Social Life called Facebook

The social networking scene has started to grow by leaps and bounds everywhere, and India has not remained behind in embracing it. It all started with Orkut and took the attention of the masses with Facebook, followed by Twitter. What has attracted millions of people to jump onto this networking bandwagon?

Just the other night, one of my friends had wished her father a very happy birthday on her Facebook Wall. So? The point was that her father does not have an account on Facebook. Then what is the point in wishing him there. I tried to think of the many possible reasons, but was afraid to ask her directly, lest she might get annoyed. Was it that she wanted to tell the entire world that she loves her dad? Possible. But we all love  our parents, and don't need to put it online to assert it. Right?

I had recently come across a status of one of my friends saying that he got his first salary. Why do you need to put that on Facebook? I was disappointed that he did not put the figure too. I started wondering whether he would be willing to share his salary with the entire world, just like he shared the news with everyone. Am I getting too harsh on that fellow? Maybe, he was just sharing his happiness with his friends.

I am not against using Facebook. Infact, I myself have a Facebook account with over 400 friends. But what is funny is there are a few 'friends' whom I don't even know or with whom, I have not even stopped and said "Hello" when we've met. The question then arises is why do I add him as a friend in the first place, which has flummoxed me too, time and again. Maybe, because the fact that we know each other is enough to click a button and add him as your friend.

Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with your old friends, acquaintances, and cousins. Undoubtedly, the social networking idea is a revolutionary one. But you can't argue the fact that it is no replacement for the personal face-to-face meetings, coffee table conversations, and spending time with your friends at your favourite 'adda'. Then why is this phenomena catching up so quickly? Our lives have become too fast-paced today. Taking time out for your dear friends and your family is a task in itself. And talking to your long-lost friends is a task better kept for future, always. In such times, Facebook comes as a savior for all of us. You can chat with your friends, poke them, comment on other's posts and photos, sitting in the comforts of your house. We all have a deep instinct to know what is going on in others' lives. And Facebook offers us that facility too. A few people oblige us by putting their personal lives on their walls, literally.

A few days back, I had received a joke on my cell phone, saying Facebook is a refrigerator. Wondering why? Because every few minutes, you keep opening and closing it to see whether anything good is in it. Yeah, people constantly using Facebook, become addictive to it. Their social life is nothing more than the account that they have on Facebook. They are actually leading a virtual life, or as I read it somewhere, 'The Second Life'. It said you can pose on Facebook the way you want, the way you always wanted to be. You can appear macho if you want or you can appear as someone very smart, even if you are not as cool as that in real life. It gives you a sense of completeness, it gives you something that you lack in real life.

Who knows whether that is true or not! And I am going to get a lot of flak for writing something against Facebook, since many of my own friends are Facebook addicts. But they will vent out their anger on my Wall, and not me. So virtually, that is another advantage of this huge networking site.

And lastly, before signing off, I would like to share a particular habit of one of my friends. He keeps updating his status, every half an hour, with nonsensical things as to what he is eating for lunch, where he is going for dinner, what he is doing in the office, whether he is liking his work or not, whether his computer is working or not, etc. Dude, give us a break!!

6 comments:

  1. damn good yaar... like ur style of writing... keep going... :):)

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  2. Yo..nice 1..may I enquire as to the fellow in the last para???:P

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  3. simply amazing..i totally agree on this topic..no wonder i kept myself away from facebook till july this year:-P

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  4. real FACT very true
    amazing yaar

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  5. goood one :) read mine on a similar note:
    http://swatyaggarwal.blogspot.com/2011/04/internet-mania.html

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  6. Bang on bro!
    Great article! These days, all these social networking sites have taken the "Friend" out of Friendship, which is sad. Friends were all about hanging out and meeting "Face-to-Face", but these days, its just "Face-book" :D
    Kadak likha hai!

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