What’s on your mind? By the title of my post, you must be
thinking about my obsession for the social network site. Voila!! You are darn
correct. Aren’t we all have become its slave? Like a morning ritual we search
for our phones to see how many cohorts have showered us with likes or comments.
Almost half a day is consumed by dangling like puppets in the hands of social
media sites. We have become so reliant on technology that we forgot how to
communicate in real world. Calling friends on Bdays, sending cards, voicemails
have become obsolete.
Before the birth of facebook I was the queen of orkut.
Unfortunately the latter died a cruel death. I joined facebook in 2010 when the
whole world was engulfed by the “storm of swag”. It was like a fad. Everybody just
wants to belong to never ending virtual gathering. Initially I was awe-stuck
finding my old school mates, colleagues, hell even neighbors under one roof.
Click a button and enter into the time machine. Interacting with old school
mates, filling the missed gaps, sharing pictures, chatting, relishing comments
all was new and fresh. Undoubtedly it is still the most powerful form of media for
communication today.
But appears with
passage of time, whole concept of face booking has changed. Now people send you
request just to peek onto your lives. Though you have customized privacy
settings but that’s not liable for people in your list. It has become more of
your little black book, an online album or a media to rant n rave about
political or social issues.
I feel Facebook has become a place for people to flaunt their
success or brag about futile mundane things. Some studies also shows that people who use it
excessively are more prone to depression, anxiety, personality disorder or
jealousy.More the users look at happy post
or joyful pictures of their facebook friends, more it leads to resentment. With
personal experience I have seen people gets envious of you by just looking at
your travel sojourn pictures. The amount of “likes” and comments you get is
another part of their antipathy which leads to strain in personal relationship.
After being a facebook junkie for almost three years, they should reward me with a doctorate degree. I can boastfully psychoanalysis different facebook personalities. I myself was a facebook addict but now it’s not a compulsion. I post my pictures regularly only for my loved ones due to being away from them so often. It’s my way to keep track on my friends, to kill my boredom onboard or playing candy crushes. But anything done in extreme will definitely affect one’s health, mental peace or social relationships.
We need to establish technology boundaries, set aside time
for other activities. Get factual in real world. Like most things in life,
Facebook is what you make of it. And it cannot be more than what it is.
Make it a fraction of your life not your LIFE!!
I was the emperor of Hi5 Kingdom, embraced Orkut and now FB. Indeed, we have become prisoners of the evil called social media and we need to slow down. Yeah! It's so true about pictures posted and everything that matters. I do envy you for seeing the world in Anuism fashion:)
ReplyDeleteThank You Vishal.As long as you envious of people in good banter then its fine,but mostly people start detesting you for no reason.Its not healthy for their own peace of mind.
DeleteWell said. I agree. Face 2 Face is much necessary, sitting near by the wall, looking out of the window is very necessary. :)
ReplyDeleteYes a nice quiet time with your thoughts is good for keeping your mind healthy...:)Welcome to my place here!!
DeleteReally, we have become so dependent of these networking sites that we forgot to meet in person. All have become some machinery. Thoughtful post, Anu.
ReplyDeleteWe each passing day we are behaving like robots in this technoworld.We need to touch base in order to live in real world.Thank you Diwarkar for reading...
DeleteI was so addicted to FB that I started calling users as either FB dumb or FB intelligent which lead me to write this post after my little research on it
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ankitgarg.in/2013/05/are-you-facebook-dumb-or-facebook.html
But now I have made a habit to access my FB account only once in a day and touch wood it is working quite good so far.
Nice post Ankit and nice names for friends They all suits just fine.
DeleteIt is very time consuming I agree and used by many in the wrong manner. It has its plus and minus points.
ReplyDeleteBut still people don't mind spending half of their lives on deconstructive sites...
DeleteFacbook and its games are truly addictive. I have played FarmVille for 3 yrs like a possessed woman. Thankfully it is behind me now. Agree, FB being a ticket to pry in your life.
ReplyDeleteSame here Shilpa.For me its addictive when it comes to games.Hell i still love playing Black-op.Need to moor my this obsession as well...Thanks for reminding...
DeleteIt can get really addictive. Like you I post pictures for loved ones. Can't agree more on the closing lines.
ReplyDeleteBut some fellas think we post to make them jealous.Funny aren't they?
DeleteThe only advantage of FB (for me) was that I could trace some of my old class mates by tracking down their children !! Yes if you know the kid's name then its easy. (the surname you already now)
ReplyDeleteI tracked down a friend who is settled in Australia, and another one in Bangalore.
Cant agree more.Its one of the best points of FB...Getting reconnecting with long lost friends...
DeleteBy the way tried this G+ thing and they changed everything from name to pic. So now its Joe Zach from Haddock.
ReplyDeleteOh great!! Joe good to know your real name.Thank you for stopping by..:)
DeleteWell written. I can so relate to it.
ReplyDeleteWe are living in the facebook yug ;)
Thank you pallavi and welcome to my blog.
DeleteVery well said! I was and even now still into these ... but once in a while when I feel it's taking too much of my life and happiness.... I just deactivate it and go off.... ;)
ReplyDeleteThats is the whole point.If you wanna disconnect,it should not take long but click of a button..
DeleteI have different lists for different friends. In my personal account, I share links and interesting tid-bits to acquaintances and keep more personal stuff for people who truly matter to me. I find that helps in warding off unwanted comments and nosiness!!
ReplyDeleteyes it indeed a good idea...Should segregate my fren list too accordingly..
DeleteAs a recent entrant I am not yet addicted but know enough to know that addiction is not far off :)
ReplyDeleteI think addiction with the blogging part is far better then useless facebook...:)
DeleteGetting a glimpse of your writing for the first time...and I love it!
ReplyDeleteMay you continue on this venture dear esp when hubsy sailing n u stationary :)