Social networking
Unless you are of the kind who hosts dinners and parties often, or belong to the social group of people whose parties you get to attend, in today's fast paced world, the only way to stay in touch, or so it seems is through Internet.
When I log on to the Internet, I noticed I get very occupied like most others.. In fact, GMail accounts, orkut, linked in, blogger have become more of a routine these days for me. The result is social networking, the new meaning of it is 'To stay in touch over the Internet with people'. It is admittedly time consuming.. but coming to think of it, I don't spend time talking to the same people otherwise.. So I guess it is fair to set aside some time for people networking among other things in life.
A good number of our friends are online - Gtalk, Yahoo Messenger, Linked In, Face Book, Orkut, Gmail, Blogs.
This aside, I hear people saying , ' I do not have time for emails', 'Orkut, I do not remember when I checked it last, these days am on Face Book.. why don't you join Face book?', ' Linked In - How do I spend so much time connecting to people online each day.. My work kills all the energy at the end of the day', ' Communities - The last thing I would want to check, as you know work and the lifestyle getting hit already.. Don't want to spend time on the communities pages'....,
So as you see, people who are members of all these, don't seem to have time for any of these.....
Okay, so you are wondering if these people are the partying sorts.... later you realize they are neither hosts or attendees of any party because they are busy, and do not have time most party days....
You'll think they are phone friends, but then, their mobile phones go silent or is vibrating all the time...They are busy with something....
The next idea is to write letters ( a forgotten habit - one of my friends recently expressed interest to write to me and I plan to practice my handwriting to respond in a legible hand.), the mention of it hits most ears like a thunder...
the very idea of using a pen to write a few sentences on a paper ( am sure, the last time you used one was to sign a cheque or fill up some form or scribble something that no one including your own self needs to understand)
and getting postage stamps for the envelope ( where is the nearest post office? Do they sell stamps at 7:00 P.M after my office hours)
and hunting for a glue stick in the house( When did I last stick any envelope at home?)
then calling the friend to find out the postal address and pin code ( wishing quietly that every house had a single address line like that of an email address without underscores or hyphens)
then locating a post box ( Do they clear letters from this post box every day???)
then finding that TIME to post the letter....
Now, for some one who cant spend two min to respond to an orkut scrap, or five min on GMail, three min on a phone call, a few min on networking sites, where is the time to do all these and post a letter??? :) So there goes the idea of letter-writing too..
The last resort is to meet people... Its not like earlier days where you just call on people in the evenings. If they are not available, it was just fine.. You leave a note or message with the neighbour and your friends meet you another day.. Today, if you have to meet someone, you need to make a call.... and your friends have to pick up.. If they are of the types that we discussed so far, the chances of them picking up your call are rare.... So, in effect, your idea of visiting them also goes for a toss...
So, in the end, you end up spending your time in a Mall or movie theatre.. If you meet friends there ( they are at the theatre/Mall for the same reason as yours - No time for people) then you could say : Yeah, I caught up with her at the theatre last week.. We meet once in a while...
In the not-so-far and fast approaching future, your next step would be to get the book: What do you say after a Hello?, because, social networking, the way it is going today will some day leave you with nothing to talk about after a Hello!!!!! You may not know people enough to tell them anything at all....
Do not be too busy for people... Someday, when you look back, you'll be the only person who is free....
When I log on to the Internet, I noticed I get very occupied like most others.. In fact, GMail accounts, orkut, linked in, blogger have become more of a routine these days for me. The result is social networking, the new meaning of it is 'To stay in touch over the Internet with people'. It is admittedly time consuming.. but coming to think of it, I don't spend time talking to the same people otherwise.. So I guess it is fair to set aside some time for people networking among other things in life.
A good number of our friends are online - Gtalk, Yahoo Messenger, Linked In, Face Book, Orkut, Gmail, Blogs.
This aside, I hear people saying , ' I do not have time for emails', 'Orkut, I do not remember when I checked it last, these days am on Face Book.. why don't you join Face book?', ' Linked In - How do I spend so much time connecting to people online each day.. My work kills all the energy at the end of the day', ' Communities - The last thing I would want to check, as you know work and the lifestyle getting hit already.. Don't want to spend time on the communities pages'....,
So as you see, people who are members of all these, don't seem to have time for any of these.....
Okay, so you are wondering if these people are the partying sorts.... later you realize they are neither hosts or attendees of any party because they are busy, and do not have time most party days....
You'll think they are phone friends, but then, their mobile phones go silent or is vibrating all the time...They are busy with something....
The next idea is to write letters ( a forgotten habit - one of my friends recently expressed interest to write to me and I plan to practice my handwriting to respond in a legible hand.), the mention of it hits most ears like a thunder...
the very idea of using a pen to write a few sentences on a paper ( am sure, the last time you used one was to sign a cheque or fill up some form or scribble something that no one including your own self needs to understand)
and getting postage stamps for the envelope ( where is the nearest post office? Do they sell stamps at 7:00 P.M after my office hours)
and hunting for a glue stick in the house( When did I last stick any envelope at home?)
then calling the friend to find out the postal address and pin code ( wishing quietly that every house had a single address line like that of an email address without underscores or hyphens)
then locating a post box ( Do they clear letters from this post box every day???)
then finding that TIME to post the letter....
Now, for some one who cant spend two min to respond to an orkut scrap, or five min on GMail, three min on a phone call, a few min on networking sites, where is the time to do all these and post a letter??? :) So there goes the idea of letter-writing too..
The last resort is to meet people... Its not like earlier days where you just call on people in the evenings. If they are not available, it was just fine.. You leave a note or message with the neighbour and your friends meet you another day.. Today, if you have to meet someone, you need to make a call.... and your friends have to pick up.. If they are of the types that we discussed so far, the chances of them picking up your call are rare.... So, in effect, your idea of visiting them also goes for a toss...
So, in the end, you end up spending your time in a Mall or movie theatre.. If you meet friends there ( they are at the theatre/Mall for the same reason as yours - No time for people) then you could say : Yeah, I caught up with her at the theatre last week.. We meet once in a while...
In the not-so-far and fast approaching future, your next step would be to get the book: What do you say after a Hello?, because, social networking, the way it is going today will some day leave you with nothing to talk about after a Hello!!!!! You may not know people enough to tell them anything at all....
Do not be too busy for people... Someday, when you look back, you'll be the only person who is free....
Comments
ppl who always say that they never have time... they rally dont' - for anything! ask their parents, siblings, girlfriends, best frinds, they have time for no one...
and then there are ppl who keep in touch, they do it thru emails, phone calls, social netwroking sites, everything.
of course then there is priority, i want to talk to my best friend daily, my parents bi-weekly, my friends weekly, and so on with diminishing rate...
I totally love the lage raho munnabai piece where Vidya Balan signs off with thoughts for the day that run something like:
'you are surfing the cyber world to meet people but do you know your neighbour ?'
'you know what all the characters in the soap operas are doing but when was the last time you spoke with ur mom?'
'when was the last time you saw the sunset, you got wet in the rain'
'what is the point of rushing through life like this - if this is living then what is dying' ?