By Aldren D’Silva
Parent Contributor
Is your face stuck in Facebook? Are you twittering away on Twitter, oblivious to the world around you?
Did you miss the beaming smile on your mum’s face as she walked by? Did you notice out of your window the first flowers of spring?
If not…
Just take a moment to think. In being part of the hip and happening generation with powerful technology literally at your fingertips, are you really living life to the full? In fact, are you really living a real life?
Does Facebook/Twitter/online social networking provide the same level of joy as face-to-face conversation, or the same thrills and laughter of cozy chats while chilling with friends?
Do the quick and often-banal postings on Facebook (accompanied usually by equally mundane photos to supposedly add visual glamour) actually reflect your personality?
As to living, what is real life? Have you thought of spending some of the time away from your computers to volunteer and help those less fortunate than yourself? Or to regularly take part in sports and outdoor activities? To smile at or talk with people living regular lives instead of twittering to the world details of your routine actions. Are you keener to broadcast than to live life? Is talking about actions more important than action itself?
Further, is the need for instant gratification of your ego through Twitter, Facebook and other social networks actually creating a society unable to communicate?
Communicate in the true sense of the word. Is this short and instant communication encouraging shorter attention span, leading to a world where people may not have the capacity to read and appreciate books or even short articles?
In case some of you are dismissing the above as pointless ramblings of an old parent, let’s review what’s been going on.
FACEBOOK—or the real face behind the public Face
What started out as a closed communication network for college use has turned into a global phenomenon with membership from all age groups. At first it was an exciting web tool for rediscovering and connecting with long lost friends. But then it exploded into a worldwide platform that was exploited by people and organizations for their own business, political, and sometimes criminal purposes.
TWITTER—not the blue bird in the sky!
Does the world really need and want to know what you are doing in your life every second? Does it really care? It appeals to people with big egos who think their lives are the center of universe. It also appeals to people who want to follow every moment of their idols’ Twitter page, creating a false sense of glamour to their otherwise ordinary lives.
Many of the criticisms apply to other social sites too, but the above being most popular are highlighted as examples.
As for parents, do you believe joining these groups makes you hip, younger ? Are you not setting a bad example? Should you not be encouraging and actively involved in making sure your children have a healthy balanced life that you presumably had in your youth?
Remember if you spend your life in cyberspace you will miss out on real life. And the happiness that comes from STOPPING to smell the roses.
