I got my electronic identity when I was in Class 7. Merely 13 years old, I opened my first email account with Rediff (thanks to my cousin Shabana Lalani). Little did I know that this would be the beginning of some kind of an electronic revolution that would happen in my life....
A little nostalgic.......School days those where, my friends were present with me for half a day, but still given a chance I would call them up. Just to gossip about things that wouldn't be possible in school (My mom used to shout her throat out on that). We knew about the happenings in everyone's life (including teachers :P ). Everything happened over the telephone or personally. There was no space or rather the need for internet, emails or any other electronic mode of communication.
And then, I grew up.... The importance of email increased. We had to send things to people via email. Important things.....!! And I used to think that important documents have to be sent via Courier...
Then one fine day... I heard of ORKUT!!
Inquisitive as I was, I opened an account, started using it... Confusing in the beginning, but I started getting used to it. I was delighted that I could get in touch with my long lost friends, people I had lost touch with. But I did not realize that as I got in touch with the lost friends, the mode of communication with my regular friends also shifted to Orkut.. and I didn't realize it until it later...
Then came in Facebook... A social networking website that helps you network with the entire world...!!!!
Similar to Orkut, it not only let me get in touch with my old friends, but also allowed me to know a lot more about them. Being more interesting than Orkut (or so I think) I switched to Facebook around 3 years ago. Honestly, it took me a while to understand how this thing works. It was so confusing. But i got a hang of it...
Today I have hundreds of friends in my friends list. But I still haven't been able to figure out if the impact of Facebook on my life was positive or negative.
Positives:
Negatives:
The reason why this thought came to my mind is very trivial and childish you may say -
It was my Birthday a few weeks ago, at 12 am sharp, I was expecting my friends to call or text me, just like any other day. But then, I must have received only 15% of calls/sms that I get every year. But you should have seen my FB wall.. Dude it was filled with birthday wishes in 15 mins. By good friends, by friends, by acquaintances. By the end of the day, hundreds of people had wished me. Not many by call/sms but through my wall (not that I am complaining - this number was much higher in comparison to the wishes i receive every year - Thank you guys!! It felt good!)
The fact that I couldn't digest was - the effort that we used to put in remembering a person's birthday. If you wish someone on his/her birthday, it was considered to be really special. As there were no reminders then. An effort had to be made on a personal front. Unlike now - you just see a reminder and you wish a person. The need to remember birthdays is gone. The specialty of that fact is gone. Even the best of friends don't need to remember your birthday. They are informed about it!!
Facebook.... It is such a confusing phenomenon... Honestly, I don't find any such fault in Facebook or for that matter any social networking site, that would make me averse to them. But there is something that stings.
I've tried to answer this question many times, but still... I haven't been able to figure out....
Facebook... What are you to me......
Is this a statement....
or....
A Question???????
A little nostalgic.......School days those where, my friends were present with me for half a day, but still given a chance I would call them up. Just to gossip about things that wouldn't be possible in school (My mom used to shout her throat out on that). We knew about the happenings in everyone's life (including teachers :P ). Everything happened over the telephone or personally. There was no space or rather the need for internet, emails or any other electronic mode of communication.
And then, I grew up.... The importance of email increased. We had to send things to people via email. Important things.....!! And I used to think that important documents have to be sent via Courier...
Then one fine day... I heard of ORKUT!!
Inquisitive as I was, I opened an account, started using it... Confusing in the beginning, but I started getting used to it. I was delighted that I could get in touch with my long lost friends, people I had lost touch with. But I did not realize that as I got in touch with the lost friends, the mode of communication with my regular friends also shifted to Orkut.. and I didn't realize it until it later...
Then came in Facebook... A social networking website that helps you network with the entire world...!!!!
Similar to Orkut, it not only let me get in touch with my old friends, but also allowed me to know a lot more about them. Being more interesting than Orkut (or so I think) I switched to Facebook around 3 years ago. Honestly, it took me a while to understand how this thing works. It was so confusing. But i got a hang of it...
Today I have hundreds of friends in my friends list. But I still haven't been able to figure out if the impact of Facebook on my life was positive or negative.
Positives:
- There is a good chance of bumping into long lost friends through friend suggestions
- Even if you are extremely busy, you can say a hi to your friends
- You know more about your friends, their likes and dislikes
- You get updated on the latest gossips even without asking for it
- Unknown people become your friends easily
- It helps in building network and generating business (I am not joking!!)
- It helps in supporting causes and spreading awareness
Negatives:
- No difference between acquaintances and friends. Or i should say that the line of difference between them is very thin
- A poke, wall message is a preferable mode of contact than a call or sms (I miss those days when I used to get texts or calls from my friends without a reason; but i cant blame them, I am one of the gang too :( unfortunately)
- Unknown people send you friend requests (A good place for Stalking)
- People who have met you just once, even for a brief period of time, expect you to add them
- Weekends are lazy, as no longer is the need felt of getting out of the house and catching up with friends (You feel, you know wats up anyways - personal touch is missing!)
- Days of personal networking are gone... now its Social Networking only!! The more tech savy you are, the better your network is
The reason why this thought came to my mind is very trivial and childish you may say -
It was my Birthday a few weeks ago, at 12 am sharp, I was expecting my friends to call or text me, just like any other day. But then, I must have received only 15% of calls/sms that I get every year. But you should have seen my FB wall.. Dude it was filled with birthday wishes in 15 mins. By good friends, by friends, by acquaintances. By the end of the day, hundreds of people had wished me. Not many by call/sms but through my wall (not that I am complaining - this number was much higher in comparison to the wishes i receive every year - Thank you guys!! It felt good!)
The fact that I couldn't digest was - the effort that we used to put in remembering a person's birthday. If you wish someone on his/her birthday, it was considered to be really special. As there were no reminders then. An effort had to be made on a personal front. Unlike now - you just see a reminder and you wish a person. The need to remember birthdays is gone. The specialty of that fact is gone. Even the best of friends don't need to remember your birthday. They are informed about it!!
Facebook.... It is such a confusing phenomenon... Honestly, I don't find any such fault in Facebook or for that matter any social networking site, that would make me averse to them. But there is something that stings.
I've tried to answer this question many times, but still... I haven't been able to figure out....
Facebook... What are you to me......
Is this a statement....
or....
A Question???????
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