Ritanjali Hastir, Freelancer, 5th May, 2014, Shimla
Once the famous poet and a novelist, Oscar Wilde said, ‘Society exists only as a mental concept; in the real world there are only individuals’ !!!
In the current era his saying seems to hold water as the world of people has contracted to a virtual world; a world which is full of absolute communication as well as absolute isolation.
SNS or the now very popular Social Networking Sites (SNS) have taken over the current age with the increase in technology advancements, which has thus empowered the people to stay connected with each other through various means. The reasons for staying connected may be many, such as a compulsion to stay connected with their families; those who are living alone to earn their livelihood; few who head for International waters to try their luck at jobs all are now using these social networking sites either for communication or just for leisure. Among few popular networking sites Facebook (FB), Orkut and Twitter top the list, which have now become a bridge between them and others all around the world.
Tamanna Sharma, a young school student, says, “I have a social profile on all the three community site — FB, Orkut and Twitter — with over 100 friends, with whom I chat regularly. I would say of these friends / associates I have met with only about 40 of them but I am connected with other through the Internet only”. On the other hand a young merchant navy trainees has another perspective. Ankush Sood with an Orkut profile says, “As I spend most of my time at sea, I don’t get much time to meet my family and friends but because of such social networking sites it makes it easy for me to stay connected to the world. I have made a couple of friends online but honestly I haven’t met them yet”.
Suman Chauhan , a young teenager says, “I have a Facebook account which I use almost all the time as I have lots of free time and since Shimla is a very small place and everyone knows each other, it really becomes difficult to go out with male friends. The environment as well as thought process is not as broadminded as in the cities, hence many of us still use the SNS service to communicate with male friends”.
Amit Sharma, Class +2 student admits, “I spend more than 12-16 hours using the SNS despite the fact that I don’t need that but still I am logged on all the time. At present I have more than 200 friends on SNS, and I get some strange pleasure chatting with my so called friends on various sites. It just so seems that my day is incomplete if I do not login my account either from my cell phone or my laptop”.’
“I personally feel SNS has become a place for attention seekers. The world and the aura created by the youngsters, is so different from what they actually are. It is place where everyone tries to deceive the other person by creating the virtual world” says, Mohan Lal, a senior citizen.
Dr. Deepshikha Chauhan says, ‘I find the whole concept of social networking site a futile endeavor. Even though I am single living alone but still the idea of chatting on the Internet has failed to woo me. I prefer to call my relatives or friends any time over phone whenever I feel like rather than messaging or chatting. I do not fancy the idea of becoming a slave of the SNS by being addicted to them as the present generation is hooked on 24×7″.
It is said that for successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled. Most of the SNS users having more than hundred friends and are almost 24X7 connected with people may be through I-Phones, smartphones, tabs or laptops but the moment eyes are taken off the screen the virtual world vanishes and one is all alone.
Many SNS users accept the fact that it helps them to escape from a real world into a utopian world where things are not what they ought to be but the way they want them to be. SNS are becoming more of a deceiving instrument rather than giving people the chance to know who you actually are like N.D. Bhatt a school teacher says, “It is very rare to find the real picture of any of the account holder on any of the social services. If one is so much interested to connect to people then they should call spade a spade. Many people have friends belonging to the same place but when they come across each other they cross each other as complete strangers without even sharing a simple hello”.
It is really strange that no one remembers the last time when they experienced the warmth of human emotions like love, friendship, kiss or a simple hug, which now have been replaced with emoticons. Living under the impression that they are all so connected while ignoring the fact that they are so alone, will burst everyone’s bubble one day.