Social network, the web of socially active human beings on the virtual space, is a vast sea of electronic communication. People, young and old alike, today resort to Facebook, twitter or Google plus to communicate both privately and publically. Apart from being a medium of communication between distant people it has now grown into a platform for public address as well.
1.28 billion people logged into Facebook during this march 2014. Yes, dear friends, that’s almost the entire population of India, the second most populous country. Such a huge number of people on the web being interconnected on a daily basis is an excellent tool in this fast moving world.
We particularly students, changing places and schools every few years and Friends get estranged, leaving social media the only means to connect and be in touch. We get to hear stories of families separated by borders during the partition of India and Pakistan, still being friends on the social media. Everything we wanted to know about anyone is online, easily accessible just at a click of a mouse. It has made us realise that the world is really a sphere and it is shrinking.
By interconnecting and providing quick and cheap access to personal, communication social networks have indeed turned the world into a global village for the common man. It has therefore quite literally made the Sanskrit dictum come true...
“Vasudhaiva kudumbakam”.. the whole world is my family !!
We witnessed the anti-rape protests, lokpal movement, the Arab spring and the massive sloganeering during the general elections gaining traction on the social media and bringing huge masses of people together for social and political causes. These tools have indeed; become the voice of the aam admi today. The role of the internet and its children in bringing people together cannot be ignored any more.
But there are always two sides to a coin.
A cell phone does not bring you close to people but takes you far away from the person sitting next to you! Today people prefer to text or call a person rather than going to meet them. This increases the distance between people and the device which was supposed to bring people close becomes the key factor that makes them un-social. In parties and get-togethers people are so lost in their phones that they don't mix up with the people present.
So technology definitely is bridging the gaps. But who created them in the first place? Isn’t it the same gentleman?
The infiltration of social media has resulted in people becoming internet addicts and drifting away from the real world. People completely depend on them these days to communicate rendering the word of mouth a rare means of communication. The friend made in the virtual world rarely if at all turn into a friend in need. The human element of friendship and camaraderie are fast deteriorating due to this.
Moreover it is not uncommon to see young people glued to their gadgets even during dinner time when the family is supposed to be together and bonding. The addiction
to social media now questions the very social nature of the human being in the real world. It is important to realise that human values like, love, romance and compassion are to be experienced in the real world and it is foolish to restrict oneself to the virtual world.
We need to draw a fine balance between our online and real life. We need to use such resources available to us but not at the cost of relinquishing our personal human relationships and social responsibilities.
Lastly, I would conclude my speech by quoting the twitter co-founder Biz Stone.
“A thousand re-tweets could never replace a warm a hand shake”
I hope you “like” my message and do “share” it with your friends...
Thank you.
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