Orkut, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin - take your pick !
Around 2005, the world was beginning to see a new revolution. A new world was coming into existence - a world that was surreal and yet very real. The internet had now touched millions of people world wide in such a huge manner that there was now a presence of an online world. A lot of people now had an online identity, online friends, online connections and most importantly an online life. Online social networking sites sprouted like beans - Orkut, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin - personal and professional networking sites- so on and so forth. ( Click on the links to find out more and learn about the history of these sites ).
The delight of having a presence in this new world , getting connected to so many friends of yours and looking at their connections - The delight of knowing whats happening in the lives of the people around you - was very exciting! Making friends with like minded people all over the world, learning about them and their cultures, had never been so easy - what with so much of personal information being displayed unabashedly. It was fun to chat up with old acquaintances whom you generally wouldn't have chatted with so frequently. The birthday reminders and being able to wish your near and dear ones are pleasures and such blessings of these sites.
Each one of us in this period of 4-5 years have ensured that we too have an identity in this unknown and new world. At the same time, on a hindsight , I now tend to think - How exciting or safe really is this new development. True its exciting to have new friends - but how much can I really trust these "unknown", "faceless" , "bodyless" souls. True it is exciting to know about people's lives - but what about those who announce their daily activities( in form of twitter or status updates ) to the world, dime a dozen. Why do people want the world to know what they are doing minute by minute ? And do they realize that conciously or unconciously, they are creating a perception about themselves or their life around them ? Is this what they intended for ? And then , there is this thing about connections - Out of the blue I find that my childhood friend ( read - a friend with whom you have shared your life ), is also there in the network list of my boss or a distant relative, or my inlaws. Though initially I would be excited to find such interesting connections - Now I find it a bit intruding on my personal space and privacy.
Hmm - should we continue being online at all then? Whether we like it or not , Social Networking has "come", and it has come to stay and there is a presence of a online life that is as real as your real life. Whether we choose to "be responsible" of the opportunities these sites provide and "take advantage" of them or whether we choose to look its negatives and get secluded is a choice we need to make.
After all, whether online or offline, it is "our" life, "our" society, and "our" world out there.
4 comments:
Totally agree with your views. I too wrote something similar on my blog @ http://nilusnatter.blogspot.com/2009/12/online-social-networking-boon-or-bane.html
I am not an active member of any of these sites even though I've willy-nilly opened accounts with each :)I think its mostly a waste of time, resources, network bandwidth and a blatant excuse for voyeurism. Good old fashioned mail works for me for giving updates regarding my life to my near and dear ones.
I also wanted to mention that people who do use these sites extensively always risk giving up too much information. It has become common practice for companies to search out an read these sites before hiring a new employee and frequently, people have been rejected for what they wrote on their blogs or networking sites. You also risk your current employer finding out that you are looking for a new job. One of my labmates recently announced in our lab meeting not to ask him about his job interviews on Facebook.
Especially as the current young generation gets older, 20 years later, their new employers will have access to the sometimes thoughtless and irresponsible writings and affiliations of their youth which could ruin their future aspirations
Hi Shruti,
As far as job prospects go, these social networking sites could even turn into an advantage. For e.g. if a candidate has opined assertively on certain topics on social networking sites. Companies do appreciate assertiveness and having an independent thought process.
In general though, I would be wary of companies who hire on basis of candidates involvement in online networks - it shows they are not confident in their own screening process.
Nilu
@Shruti, Nilu
>>It has become common practice for companies to search out an read these sites before hiring a new employee and frequently, people have been rejected for what they wrote on their blogs or networking sites.
Even I have heard about this. Makes sense if you think from the company's view point. If an information is publicly available, one might as well use it.
Its we who have to be careful about how we project ourselves.
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