How Social Are You Outside Social Networks

When is Your Social Network Down?

From the early days of the Internet, the ability to interact with people remote from our own physical locality was always an attracting factor. Without the bells and whistles of the Internet today, it was this ability to connect, collaborate and share that made it fascinating back then. Today, we have come a long way from all that. We have Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn, and they are a lot more colourful than the bland FTP and Gopher sites of old, or the IRC and messenger applications which followed after. It has often been said that “man is a social animal”, we crave associations, interaction and opportunity to have our voice heard. Maybe that's why we have welcomed these innovations. After all, the Internet has achieved a higher level of penetration than did the radio and TV in a very short time. It is poised to even surpass itself with the present array of mobile devices. 

Already, these devices have helped push a tremendous growth in social network use. An outfit like Facebook, can boast of over half a billion users in its few years of existence. This rise in social network penetration, while welcome, has also given rise to worrisome societal trends. If you make a note to observe, you will now find that it's common to see people "texting", pinging, tweeting, pinning, commenting or “liking” on their mobile when on a date, at dinner, in class, in a board meeting or even while asleep ;). The physical person does not get the same attention he used to. Now he has to compete with the “virtually present” people.

This trend gravitates to the annoying when you are the one giving your all. Take for instance a couple on a date, one is busy pouring his heart out and the other intermittently raises the head to say “hmm, go on” while busy at the key pad. Or a tutor in class and your students are busy on their mobile. It can be perplexing. But  then borders towards insanity in situations where momentary loss of attention could lead to potential danger. A clear example was a scene I witnessed, a young lady was busy on her phone while perched up at the rear of a motorcycle. The rider oblivious of the distracted nature of his passenger, made a very daring maneuver. On a different day, such a maneuver could easily have sent her lunging to the asphalt. Such is what the future holds, we just have to wait and see. One thing is certain, mobile technology is sure to increase in user penetration, become more engaging with the vast array of apps coming on stream. Ultimately, the discretion in use and the evolution of etiquettes rests with users and the community.
Image credits: Facebook, Datacenterknowledge, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google Plus

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