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| picture source: Harold Elam Jr (picasa) |
“Hey!
Have you changed your profile pic! You are looking so nice…”
“I
have updated my status, check it out.”
“Have
you uploaded our party pics? Don’t forget to tag me buddy...”
“I
poked you, why didn’t you? It’s not fare.”
“My
favorite hero twitted yesterday that he would tie knot soon. I’m
gonna die!”
“Hey
buddy, what’s up? I’m just chatting.”
“Why
don’t you download information from net? It’s too easy. You can
just Google it.”
"
Hey! Have you seen my baby? Isn't her smile one in a million?"
These
are few expressions which have become a part of the world of social
networking. Across age groups people are getting used to
conversations of the new generation. This is the trend of a
generation who are too obsessed with themselves.
Am
I being rude saying that? May be I’m not. Isn’t it our obsession
to spend most of the hours of a day in front of a screen & make
new friends who can never be met (even running the risk of being
duped by fake profiles), giving updates of every single step taken
in the day ( I just washed my teeth, I am feeling sleepy now etc),
editing snaps in Photoshop or Picasa to create beautiful profile
pictures? Nowadays we do not even have any personal or private life,
because we update our status, flood our walls in facebook with every
change in our life. Even we have given right to every person (known
or unknown) to make comments on that. Now we have become attention
seekers by creating our "hip and happening" profiles
consciously or subconsciously waiting to count how many likes &
comments we get.
Can
we instantly become prettier after someone make a comment or can we
become ‘not so cool’ after someone thinks that? These social
networking sites are overpowering our minds & we are forced to
believe what others think or say about us. These websites like
Myspace, Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, Yahoo 360 & so on got instant
popularity for its ease of use & free subscription. A person does
not need to be a computer expert to use these websites. Therefore
every single person has their own account & profile these days.
Not everything these websites have offered so far is bad. However,
the way the young generation is using it is unworthy, useless. It
would not be so harmful if it becomes a tool to relax in leisure time
or to get refreshed after a stressful day, but it is affecting the
mental-development of young generation who are more conscious about
their profile settings than the real world, society, career and the
future.
Social networking websites have
discovered a wide field where people around the world can access what
they want. There are millions of sites (such as Google) where we can
search for valuable information, news blogs, & other essentials.
If this social networking can be used fruitfully, no other medium can
be better than this one. Even Facebook, Orkut and similar websites
like this are useful to voice one’s own views, opinions, protests
against social or political issues & to make strong public
support on a burning problem. Now it depends on us how we use it. It
can be fruitful if we wish or can just ruin our ability to think if
used in a wrong manner. Ideas and opinions in Facebook, Orkut
or Twitter should not guide our lives, images posted there of life and
happenings should not be the real story. The real story should come
out of life which is real and not virtual.
About the Author-
Shayani Gupta is student of Journalism & Mass Communication at Muralidhar Girls College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Disclaimer:
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and
they do not reflect in any way those of the Dispassionate Observer.
