It’s just 21st century and we are being surrounded by more and more gadgets. Makes life easy for sure. But, seems that, we have lost the knack of talking to real people and somehow have started believing on these gadgets/technologies more than on People.

1. Lost in the streets? Open the Google Navigation and ask for directions.
2. No more Newspaper bills. I read it online.
3. Send/Receive mails from the postman? Nah, Email is fast and FREE!!!
4. Cricket match anyone? Big LCD screens at home with 3D analysis of each ball bowled and hit.
5. Meetups/Get-togethers? Video and voice conferences are cheaper than traveling even a mile.
6. Read books? Of course, I buy e-books and read them on my laptop to save paper.
7. Get tickets for a move? Do it online or by phone.
8. Cassettes/CD-Players still alive? Everyone has a portable music player these days.
9. 3+4 = ?? Google tells you now. I don’t need a calculator.
10. Buying a car? Dig the forums for reviews/comments.

Orkut, Facebook, Twitter etc are the fastest ways to communicate with people. No doubt about that. But, this really suits our generation where our friends from school stay far away from us now. And it seems that all these things are actually making our lives easier. True to a certain extent. But, for I guess, the story and the experience will not be the same for the next generation.

A decade later, more and more children will be either on Orkut or Facebook. By children, I mean, 6 year olds and up. Most of their time will be spent on updating their status messages or profile, or uploading photos, sharing videos, making new friends, etc. People will have more virtual friends or contacts than the real ones. All this, no doubt, in a way makes you more social, or do they really? Instead of discussing problems/issues with parents/friends, people now-a-days tend to be more open and comfortable in discussing their problems amongst their virtual counterparts. A sense of anonymity gives you the power as well as the freedom of expressing your views, which is good, but it becomes dangerous when people take advantage of this freedom. For example, a Google account of a user, in essence, is his biography. Everything he has done in the past is begin recorded. All his mails, contacts, appointments, location information, searches, videos he has watched is recorded. If it falls into the wrong hands, doomed is perhaps the only word I can think of. I mean, grown-ups would probably learn and manage all this, but isn’t it a overdose for the children?

A few days back, I met someone, who I know, is a child, and I was shocked to see his fake Facebook account with hundreds of friends. This guy used a fake name and photo for this account. He has, in short, created a fake person who is completely different from himself. He has a different age, has a job and has also listed his likes and dislikes which is again so different from him. Is this Anonymity? And he is just 13 years old. I tried convincing him to create a real profile, but he didn’t budge and said, nobody would want to become a friend that way!!!

Anonymity == FAKE ??

From Wikipedia:  A social network is a social structure made up of individuals (or organizations) called “nodes,” which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.

A social network is made up of “nodes” and not “people“.

NICE DEFINITION