The true value of Social Networking

“Hey are you on Facebook? What’s your username? Scrap me that address and I’ll publish it on my wall. “

I’m sure you’ve heard it before. We all know that it’s called social networking and happens when you use sites like orkut, MySpace, facebook etc. to meet friends, relatives or new people online. Designed initially as an idea to interconnect people over the web, it has blossomed into an avenue for people to voice themselves, find long lost relatives and even find their future love online. I’m surprised facebook hasn’t yet found its way into the Oxford Dictionary. Companies now use this platform to promote their businesses while others find it a nuisance that hampers productivity. Does it affect or cripple us in any way? This is not a blog about whether you should use a networking site or not. This is a blog about what happens when and while you are using it. The following three are my own inferences, supported by experience, while just wondering about the core value of this latest trend in technology:

It’s all about image

Let’s go back to meeting online, You’re much better looking there

When a person makes a profile online, quite often his physical being is separate. His personality is known only by the words that travel through the cables. These words can be quotes fished out from various websites that have them readily available. Pictures too can be fabricated or taken at a moment when the person is at his best. What is really inside is never known. I can be a hot tempered nutcase in real life, but online, I would refrain from commenting on anyone who rubbishes my blog . Lol! Well, that’s the truth. What I mean by that is, that you don’t really know the true personality of a person online.

Shallow depth in the relations kept online

‘Connects you to people’ they say. They do. But then what? You can get in touch with a person living in Canada from India very cheaply. However you rarely grow in your relationship online. E.g. if I happen to make friends with a guy from Australia who goes to Hillsong (my favorite Christian band, also happens to be a church), I would say “Hi, how’s the weather? What are you doing today? Tell me about the local cuisine”, etc. while making new friends. It becomes a great tool to break the ice even with known friends. You need to keep in mind though that all these relations either a) don’t grow in depth online, or b)they do because they’ve been initiated at a place outside the web. E.g. it is humanly possible for a guy to know more about his fiancé while chatting with her, reading her notes, comments blah blah. However he would have had to propose to her in reality first! Are you really getting connected to people’s hearts when you use social networks? Or is it easy to strike a conversation at a party thanks to them?

The depth of a relation online

“Must dash … I want to spend some time on my social-networking websites.”

Aids to procrastination

We all procrastinate. And social networking adds to the ‘difficulty’ in making deadlines. Ask me. I’ve come across a cartoon which said that when someone who’s using the net tells you he’s ‘swamped’, it usually means “I spend an hour surfing on the net, reading things that have no relation to my work, or checking my mails when I don’t need to”. Whilst looking for info on a project, after clicking the first few links on Google, that was it. No more research. But I’d feel that terrific need to go to Facebook and read the newsfeed, watch videos etc.

And finally, it’s simple, plain, fun.

Whether I’m yelllinnnngggggg about a @#$@#$@ teacher, or changing my relationship status <3 (10 years away for me !), or Loling (lauging out loud) on a funny video, my social network releases enough of feel good hormones in my head to make me wanna go back again. For what? Nothing much, just a glorified email service

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