Friday, August 3, 2012

"F"acebook. F-ing more and more people everyday.


It was the summer of 2003. I had just completed my 8th standard exams and my end-of-term vacations were on :) The rare months of the year,when you actually got to do what you LIKED.
At that time, at that age, I was just beginning to discover "The wondrous world of Harry Potter". So all day I would sit and read those books,over and over ..imagining every page coming to life..aaaah...Good times...And in the evenings,I would go out to play Badminton,running around ,having bicycle-races and "exploring" our locality with my neighbors....I LIKED doing those things.
When somebody asked me,"Hey Abhi...So, now,that you have holidays,what do you LIKE doing? "..I could tell them all the things I just told you..And more.. I could tell them, "I Like collecting stamps"..or "I Like playing video games"..Funnily enough, "I Like watching TV" was never on my list in those days :D Seems like a weird,oh-so-long-ago time.
By now you're probably thinking,"Oookay grandpa...where are you going with this? :-/ Also..what is with highlighting the word 'LIKE'?"...
I'm going to answer those questions,with a question of my own...What does the word "Like" mean to you now???
(And please..Spare me the romantic sentiments. In that context,"like" has always meant the same. :P)

I feel the word "Like" has been thrown around too much in our day-to-day-lives, primarily by one soul-sucking entity:




You see,unfortunately, Facebook has killed the whole spirit and meaning of Liking things and activities by making EVERYTHING "like"-able. 

>Oh,so you think that pic is nice?  "Like" it.
>That comment made fun of someone you secretly hate? "Like" it.
>Aww...that video with the baby talking to the monkey is totally adorable innit? "Like" it :-/

There was a time when the very essence of you liking something MEANT something. It meant that you favored it over everything else. But now..people go day in and day out "liking" things on Facebook and the very charm of that special word, is lost.

I'm no exception to this madness. According to my Facebook profile ,I "like" over a thousand things. And this new knowledge is so overwhelming that when an acquaintance asks me "So..what do you like doing in your free time?", I'll be, consciously,forced to say.."Well, I like Liking things on Facebook. So if you look at all the things I've Liked, you should probably get a sense of what I like and don't like." The flaw in this very elaborately worded sentence is that, the list of things I've mindlessly liked on Facebook, is so exhaustive and conveniently spread over a span of 3 years,that I don't even Like more than half the things on that list anymore!!!!!! And I'm just too lazy to un-Like the pages I actually don't like anymore. And if my addiction to Facebook is any indication, I'm not going to stop liking pages. 

The end result of this madness is that, in around a decade, I'll be left with a list of pages I've Liked,90% of which will be a lie. This is true for each and every one of us who is consciously or inadvertently hooked onto Facebook. Every minute spent in "Like"-ing something tangible ,is a minute wasted ,which could have otherwise been spent on actually going out and enjoying that thing you like ,for real :) :-/

 So..I ask you people..Where is the like? Where..is..the..like? :-/


Coming to another seemingly-trivial,but vital  issue, I'd like to hint on a couple of predictions for our monitor-induced "glow"rious social-networking future:

  • There will be de-addiction clinics to help us. You've heard of AA (Alcoholics Anonymous). But wait for it. Because there will be, an FBA (FaceBook-ers Anonymous).And  the people running it will be the very creators of Facebook. This seems like a very viable and profitable business option since 

                    a)Facebook's share-value is dropping everyday and yet,
                    b)The number of people getting addicted to said site is increasing everyday.
  • Opticians will rule the planet. This must seem fairly obvious. As most of my age-group spends most of their day bent over a computer screen, and since "we are the future", a sizable amount of our finances will be used to aid our vision to further spoil our vision. This will no doubt result in far more trips to opticians by far more of our deluded population. Aaaaaaand,hence the new regime.
    (If you're reading this blog post with some difficulty,my prediction is already coming true :P)

I realize that it must be awfully hypocritical of me to use a site I so blatantly vilified , to advertise this post. So I'm grudgingly required to add this disclaimer:
I am not against Facebook for all purposes that will benefit me in any way. If I speak ill of it,it is only in a light sense ..and also in an honest manner to convey the inevitable. :P 

Oh well...."Que sera sera" (Whatever will be, Will be)...
So..... 
I'mmm going to go like some more pages on Facebook now :P :D







1 comment:

  1. Super post macha :D
    I mean, I can't possibly agree more with everything you've said here. It's funny how 'Living life' today actually translates to 'Sitting behind a computer and talking about shit that doesn't matter' :D
    And yes, I also agree with the fact that Social networking including Facebook can be very very useful in building a better world. Although, I'm pretty sure that no one in the history of mankind has logged into Facebook with the thought 'I'm going to build a better world using Facebook today' :D

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