Social Networking is on the rise, well not of the actual type at
Kattas, Addas, Playgrounds, Cafes, and other hangouts, but of the virtual
types. It is strange that whenever one mentions this phrase "social
networking", the only things that come to mind are Facebook, Orkut,
Twitter and anything related to connecting online. I guess this term might be
new but I am sure all of us networked socially before the age of internet too.
So what has changed since then?? And why do we thus require a virtual social network??
And what are the pros and cons of such a network??
Well starting with the first point, about what has changed. I was born in the 80s (recently I attended a forum on web 2.0 and it was mentioned therein that very soon we will have a whole new generation of fresh office goers / students who have not seen the world before the internet), I have seen the world before the internet and I would surely say that the world was a much better place then. People talk about the lives of today's generation revolving around the 3 screens (TV, Computer and Phone), we started out in a world when none of these screens existed. Well TV did, but we possibly watched TV only for 1-2 hrs every week back then, with Doordarshan being the only channel. Computers were not there until the mid 90s and phones did not have screens until around 2000 and in essence these 3 revolutions have marked the beginning of the end of actual social networking.
1) The Satellite TV revolution started it by making couch potatoes out of people who would otherwise would hang out at paan shops, play sport or even spend time with family (watching TV with family is obviously not spending time with them; as Aamir points out in the Tata Sky ad)
2) The onslaught of mobile phone took it even further, what with SMS and missed calls becoming communication media rather than a Katta / Adda meet every week. And recently the emergence of Whatsapp has taken it many steps further by creating online groups which have completely replaced the real world hangouts.
3) The final nail in the coffin was the emergence of internet and the Web 2.0 generation which believed in expressing everything, from love, friendship, opinions about Politics & terror attacks, and what not ONLINE.
Apart from technological advancements and the obvious sophistication of society which has resulted in this alienation. Another big factor which has contributed to this is the westernization of our culture, western societies lay much less importance on social communications, family bonding and friendships as compared to ours, a society which still thrives on social interactions.(best example of this is, most marriages in this country are still arranged through social networking of the non virtual kind)
however the current generation is at the crossroads of the Indian socialism and the western individualism.... and being at this crossroads i.e. not being one or the other way is really harmful, because it makes us become discreet, as while we wish to become an individual with just his own identity, we still are burdened by our families and traditions, which makes us become discreet in whatever things we do not want our families to know about. There is also an obvious pressure to become nationalistic, which reflects in the twitter posts becoming more and more general about the ongoing in the nation and the world.
As per what I believe, we as Indians should not lose our identity or our traditions even in this virtual world and we should adopt this onslaught of technology but in a manner which does not make us forget our rich lifestyles and traditions. Our social upbringing and our socio cultural interactions of the actual kind (not virtual) is our strength and we should never lose this edge. Most Indians have emerged unscathed from the recession because of our rich heritage of family savings and support, which is a great example of how we benefit by leveraging our traditions.
Well starting with the first point, about what has changed. I was born in the 80s (recently I attended a forum on web 2.0 and it was mentioned therein that very soon we will have a whole new generation of fresh office goers / students who have not seen the world before the internet), I have seen the world before the internet and I would surely say that the world was a much better place then. People talk about the lives of today's generation revolving around the 3 screens (TV, Computer and Phone), we started out in a world when none of these screens existed. Well TV did, but we possibly watched TV only for 1-2 hrs every week back then, with Doordarshan being the only channel. Computers were not there until the mid 90s and phones did not have screens until around 2000 and in essence these 3 revolutions have marked the beginning of the end of actual social networking.
1) The Satellite TV revolution started it by making couch potatoes out of people who would otherwise would hang out at paan shops, play sport or even spend time with family (watching TV with family is obviously not spending time with them; as Aamir points out in the Tata Sky ad)
2) The onslaught of mobile phone took it even further, what with SMS and missed calls becoming communication media rather than a Katta / Adda meet every week. And recently the emergence of Whatsapp has taken it many steps further by creating online groups which have completely replaced the real world hangouts.
3) The final nail in the coffin was the emergence of internet and the Web 2.0 generation which believed in expressing everything, from love, friendship, opinions about Politics & terror attacks, and what not ONLINE.
Apart from technological advancements and the obvious sophistication of society which has resulted in this alienation. Another big factor which has contributed to this is the westernization of our culture, western societies lay much less importance on social communications, family bonding and friendships as compared to ours, a society which still thrives on social interactions.(best example of this is, most marriages in this country are still arranged through social networking of the non virtual kind)
however the current generation is at the crossroads of the Indian socialism and the western individualism.... and being at this crossroads i.e. not being one or the other way is really harmful, because it makes us become discreet, as while we wish to become an individual with just his own identity, we still are burdened by our families and traditions, which makes us become discreet in whatever things we do not want our families to know about. There is also an obvious pressure to become nationalistic, which reflects in the twitter posts becoming more and more general about the ongoing in the nation and the world.
As per what I believe, we as Indians should not lose our identity or our traditions even in this virtual world and we should adopt this onslaught of technology but in a manner which does not make us forget our rich lifestyles and traditions. Our social upbringing and our socio cultural interactions of the actual kind (not virtual) is our strength and we should never lose this edge. Most Indians have emerged unscathed from the recession because of our rich heritage of family savings and support, which is a great example of how we benefit by leveraging our traditions.
