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I am NOT who I am on social media
Does my social media profile and behaviour accurately reflect who I am in real life? I’d say ‘no’. In real life, I’m not who I appear to be on social media. One look at my few hundred friends/followers on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and my blog tells me that I’m a fairly sociable person. That I make friends fairly easily; and that I keep in touch with my friends and followers fairly regularly. Yet, in real life, I’m a somewhat private person. I keep a low profile and am uncomfortable in large groups. I find it difficult to mingle in parties and tend to avoid them. So much so that friends have stopped inviting me to their parties and get-togethers...
Read MoreAn open world
Most of us believe in, and value, truth. Most of us believe that truth flourishes and thrives in an environment of openness – where there is freedom of speech and respect for each other’s ideas, views, feelings, ethnic origin, gender, religion, language, food habits, education, income, colour of skin… Most of us believe that such an open world can be a reality someday. The internet, by virtue of being a vast common place for anyone who can access it (and more and more people are doing so everyday), is a universe which promotes this concept of openness – of freedom of speech and mutual respect. So, it’s probably true that the progress we (as the human race)...
Read MoreOnline outrage
Recently, India was outraged by the brutal beating and gang-rape of a college girl in New Delhi who was returning home after watching a film with a friend. The culprits – six young adults, one of them under 18 years of age – were arrested fairly swiftly, but before justice could be administered, the girl’s life could not be saved. There was public outcry – in New Delhi and across India – and the Indian media ruled the universe for over two weeks (and it still continues), gathering public opinion, outcry and abuses – at times, passing judgements on lynching the gang of rapists as if it was the Wild West. Individually, some of us felt the same way. No matter...
Read MoreBeing social
If it’s not shared, it’s not social. If you don’t share, you’re not social. Essentially, being social means connecting with people. It means reaching out to others as much as it means embracing others when they reach out to us, including them in our lives. There’s nothing new in this. We’ve been doing it for tens of thousands of years, if not longer. In fact, being social has everything to do with being human – and is deeply rooted in our behaviour. The internet, as much as telephones and various forms of transportation which came before it, makes it faster, easier, simpler and possible in a grander scale than ever before – thanks to advances in...
Read MoreTrue self
When I first got onto the internet in 1998, I mostly used search and email services. The internet was this endless library in which I could spend days on end, in a daze, searching for information on whatever curiosity occupied my mind at a particular moment. From ancient history to demons to literature to science to zoology, I searched and searched. I read and read. It was a latent desire that blossomed with the internet, and happily is still with me today. It was only when I began subscribing to select information through newsletters (to be read later at leisure) that my email id became necessary and important. And, along with this, it became necessary and important...
Read MoreOnline persona
Faces have fascinated us for time immemorial. Is it any wonder that we are now fascinated with Facebook? Some say that because we cannot fully control our facial muscles, the human face is an open book of truthfulness. Whatever a person is feeling and experiencing inside is most likely revealed/reflected on the person’s face. There is also a saying that humans know how – or, at least, try – to mask their emotions. Suggesting that humans (know how to) control and modify their facial expressions in order to hide their true feelings and experiences. In other words, faces can lie. The ‘management’ of our facial expressions is, no doubt, done by controlling our...
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