Saturday, July 14, 2007

Social Networking

The Internet has changed the way people interact with each other. There used to be days when you would meet your friends everyday, hang out, do stuff. When you moved away, friends grew distant, and sometimes faded away into the darkness of time. New places, meant new friends, new faces, new lives.

These days things are different. Friends, if you want them to be, can be in touch wherever you go. Whenever you need them, they can be reached. The Internet was quite responsible for all this. Childhood friends, continue to grow with you, albeit through the interface of a messenger, or mails. But is this good? It can cause life to be static. Always clinging on to the past, never letting the present into your soul. Thats one way to look at it.

In a world where trust is hard to come by, why should we risk ourselves to exposure to new things. Its dangerous, and usually not very helpful to us. In a world where everyone is closed unless they need to be, how can we let anyone in at all?

This is where social networking on the Internet changes the board a little. With all these sites online to bring like minded people together, or even people who've been long lost, the playing field opens up. Just this past week, I found friends from elementary and middle school from my previous tryst with this country online. What a joy it is to reconnect with the people from those days, if only to see whats become of the world you knew. People change. Grown up in a world where everyone is a doctor or an IT professional, its a welcome change to come across writers, singers, lawyers, therapists and the so called "unconventional proffessional fields."

Networking is turning out to be quite an important aspect of life these days. The person with the most useful contacts usually comes out ahead. In the age of information, the more people you know, the higher chances you get to know of something important.

But whats the cost of all this?

8 comments:

Ram said...

Neat one. Though connections thru internet may b a good source to keep in touch with old buddies, do u think u can expand ur circle of social networking using the Internet?

And yeah, all said n done, in this competitive env, having the right contacts at the right time counts a lot!

CandidConfessions said...

A good one to call out! Much as it has helped, it has deprived us of the warmth relationships once had..

Still Searching said...

The cost is that we forget to give importance to people who are actually present around us physically, becoz we're so busy connecting with people who're not.. its natural, but I think its a price we're paying unconsciously.. Nice post, I totally agree too...

Btw, why did you remove your comment on my latest post?!!

Quest said...

The very fact that they are called social networking sites clearly says that the its a hazy differentiation between socializing and networking.

Sure its a good way to reach out to old friends and be in touch but doubtful of the networking aspects.

Nevertheless its one more step in making the world more virtual I would say.

Anonymous said...

I believe its a total intrusion of privacy....I just couldn't believe my eyes when I saw some people exchange their phone numbers through these sites, and whats funny is that its not deleted afterwards! I dread some stranger stalking me more than the joy of some otherwise lazy acquaintances sending a hi/hello message!!

zoxcleb said...

@ram
well, its not expansion thru the Internet, but maintaining expansions thru it.
nonetheless i have made what i can call friends on here... other bloggers whom i've never met, and yet they read deeper into my posts than anyone i know.

@candid confessions
well not really... it has in fact increased the number of ppl who can "be there" when u need them most, if only you will let them.

@still searching
yes thats very true... and its getting worse everyday...

@quest
what i meant by networking is keeping the contacts alive without being physically present. but yes, it is one more step to being virtual...

@archana
well, u've only seen the crudest of networking sites. there are a lot more, better, more secure ones around.

Melody said...

Well.. from personal experience I'd say it's been a great boon - today some of my closest friends are those I've met online!

That's not even mentioning the cheap/easy/instant ability to remain in touch with old friends.

Know what you're saying, but I think everything has it's plus & minus points - and imo, the internet's positives far out way any negatives that admittedly do exist.

Still Searching said...

Oh btw, I'm in Pittsburgh these days! :)) Just realised that this blog of urs was started here! :)