Introspecting the use of Facebook

This post is an introspecting post about the way we use Facebook. An interactive discussion would be all the more better. So, until lockdown relaxes, let us interact here if we agree, disagree or want to point more.

I generally think, if it was not lockdown than the families would be enjoying their summer holidays now. I am sure every family must have planned a trip to village, or somewhere outside with family, domestic or international, they would have posted lovely pictures with beautiful skylines, making memories, and with the kind of person I am, I would have kept reacting to those posts with more than just a like. At least, love or newly introduced, care or a wow!

Instead, the families are locked down but still making memories and spending time together at home. 

This is the best part of facebook I like. To see and share our personal and social lives with friends.

BUT...

Do we realise how Facebook, a social networking site, has now turned into social media?

A little change, but a huge psychological impact on how we have started looking at it.

The news channels are already bombarding us with highly dramatised way of telling news, debates happening unlike the traditional and sophisticated ways, what is it that makes us post like a headline or news or make strong statements about everything and anything? I feel, are we constantly intellectualising ourselves to create an online image and then we have to maintain that?

As per my observation, Politics is the subject people post the most on Facebook now. We agree, we disagree, we even feel disappointed and start doubting the capabilities of the ministers and therefore start trolling on Facebook. These days hardly anything good or positive trends. It is generally trolling that trends. And this demeaning and belittling scares me the most and has made me to introspect about the use of Facebook or for that matter any social site.

A lot of questions arise as introspection. What entertainment do we seek in trolling? What does it make of ourselves? Ready to argue on someone’s posts. Ready to politicise an expression. Ready with various unproven theories. Ready to attack. Spoiling our relations, spreading hatred just to prove and impose our intellect and ideologies. But we forget it is fun to be different. We have to respect being different. The wolrd cannot have everyone the way we are. We need to have this Acceptance. And the lack of it unfortunately leads to sour relations. Our virtual relations define the real relations.

Stop here.....Breathe......Stay with this thought.....And let’s ask ourselves.......WHY?Let us find our own answers to this WHY. 

It really surprises me that why can’t Facebook community be at peace? Why are we waiting for an opportunity to troll someone? Or sometimes just troll whatever comes in front of us. Sometimes reading others troll makes us want to comment and involve ourselves. We welcome drama. 

Facebook has been introduced to us for more than a decade now. But, the facebook updates have been more than we updating ourselves on how to behave on social platform. 

In these times of uncertainty also, we are just reflecting the behaviours of media and politics on our Facebook world. We are venting, we have strong opinions about everything, yes, certainly many times the pressures created on social media have been useful, but then, there is media to do that and we can help them, but is it necessary to become media? Is it necessary to be a part of aggressive politics? Is it necessary to become communal? 

Remember, every comment, hatred or love is being read, will be presented as testimonies of hatred by the people or community that will feel hurt and these testimonies will be used to influence people to take revenge by mass murders with various forms of attacks. 

Stay with this thought for a while.....Imagine, if it is our one hatred comment which is being used to take revenge and plan attacks on us. And mind you, these are not mere attacks on Facebook, we will be attacked and lives will be lost for REAL. There is enough hatred in the virtual and real world, both. What both don’t have, is enough Love. 

And when we say it is a Social site, let’s make it social. Why make it controversial, political or communal? Let’s bring back ‘The Social Networking’ which has turned into social media.

 

                                                                                                                        - Mirr N Rajda