Tag: facebook

Virtually Speaking

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In this digital age where we have the internet, VoIP, email, social networking, 4G, smart phones, WiFi, various software and hardware that give us access to the world, to endless possibilities, to family, to friends, a means to stay connected………one has to wonder: Are we really more connected? Has technology made our relationships more meaningful? Who are our relationships with: people or machines? Do our new virtual identities and relations really exist? And if so what do they mean?

With more and more tools to share and stay connected with people: be it face-time, Skype, Facebook, twitter, etc, are people really sharing more or less? We are showcasing our life but are we really sharing our life. Because sharing is not just about uploading pictures in which we look great, it is not about advertising every vacation we have ever taken or broadcasting our latest purchase. We are showcasing every ENVIABLE moment of our life.

If you look around you will find that for most of us as the radius of our friends grows the people we can actually share things with is shrinking. Our lives have become one big showcase which we continue to adorn everyday using various  tools:Facebook , twitter, pinterest…. carefully avoiding any ugly, sad, or real moments from slipping in.

My husband and I have made a deliberate choice not to be on Facebook. Don’t get me wrong, social networking  is a great tool, with great capabilities and endless possibilities. However I am not comfortable with what its use has been reduced to and what it represents for most people. Since you cannot find us on Facebook, Do we really exist?

Even though I am not on Facebook, social networking has redefined words I thought I knew. Take a look at these icons and then take a minute to think:  what they mean and how they might have changed your life:

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Not too long ago in order to become a friend or call someone your friend it took more than a click. It took a few meetings, investment of time, emotions and a commitment. Because of what it entailed  people generally chose their friends carefully and spent time getting to know people before they called them a ‘friend’. Being a friend is not about clicking the ‘add as friend’ button, it shouldn’t be. Someone I have very little to say to,  I would avoid meeting on most occasions, why should I let them into my life with the click of a button. What does it mean to call someone a ‘friend’? Who is a friend? Is a friend just a number? And friends we cannot trust, love or even share with, should it then matter if we have 300+ of them online.

I find myself surrounded by people who are constantly connected. Sharing every moment of their life with thousands of people around the world, but unable to experience life itself. They have time to update their status, tweet, comment on pictures,  but can’t make time for people around them.  It is funny how not being on Facebook creates a need for my husband and me to meet with friends and catch up, but for the rest of the world they are already caught up…….virtually!

In this race to exist and survive in the virtual world many of us have stopped investing, experiencing and growing in the real world.  We have stopped investing  time building human relations. We have little time left to introspect about ourselves because we are too busy creating a virtual identity for ourselves. We have little time for human interaction because we are too busy texting, talking, emailing, twitting.We are in a monogamous relationship with our machines. Since they cannot talk back, we have stopped listening, we are only talking.

Right now I have 0 Friends, 0 Likes, 0 Comments……and I do not seize to exist. I am ALIVE!

You might not be able to find us on Facebook but can always connect with us over dinner and a good conversation. I

Upload Your Life and Download Others’ – in just one click

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Facebook, a phenomenon that has a changed the way we live. Well not quite the way ‘we’ live. My husband and I have tried hard to keep away from the world of social networking. Yes as shocking as it sounds, “we are not on Facebook”.  I wonder though how long we can hold up. The world, over 700 million people,   seem to (increasingly) be using Facebook as the preferred if not the only form of communication.

But what is it about Facebook that makes it so appealing?  Social networking sites existed long before Facebook, however none has been as successful, or as far reaching. None has been able to captivate such a diverse audience and hold their attention on a daily, hourly and in some cases minute by minute basis.

I think the reason for it is the “FACE” part of the equation. Facebook caters to the voyeur inside all of us. In a world of reality television, 24 hours news, and real time reporting, ‘Facebook’ allows us to peek into people’s  lives ‘real time’.

Not long ago you had to open page 3 in a newspaper or pick up one of those glossy magazines to get news, gossip and see photos of celebrities. Now Facebook allows us all to become page 3 celebrities.Just through a click, we can upload our life and download others’.

As I hear people share their Facebook experiences, I realise that an average Facebook user falls into two distinct categories. Those who you will find endlessly posting pictures, comments and news about themselves on Facebook.  They are not really living life, but  busy capturing it for Facebook. Then you have those who claim they do not post pictures or comments, however they log into Facebook several times a day to see others’ pictures, comments and updates. They are busy living vicariously through others.

For most people today Facebook is really  just a daily soap…..except the characters are friends, family and acquaintances. It is an addiction, crossing boundaries, gender, race, social strata and age. It truly is connecting the world……whether it is a positive or negative connection time will tell.