Sunday, June 14, 2009

We're All Slaves Of The Machines

Well, whaddya know. The first decade of the 21st century is coming to a close and one gift that mankind received was the power and beauty of online social networking. To put it into generic terms, Facebook and now Twitter. Good, huh? It just makes the world smaller and smaller; 20 to 30 years ago my mother was so proud to correspond with her pen pal who lived in England and those snail mails, as our generation call it today, took weeks or even months to reach the recipient. But now, at a click of a couple of buttons, you'll know that your friend is currently backpacking in Vienna and is having Rahmschnitzel mit Champignon for lunch! Good, huh? Think again.

We have become absorbed with these cyberspace contraptions that some have chosen it as an end; the first thing that Samantha would do after taking photos at her friend's birthday party is to upload all those photos on Facebook and tag everyone that is on her friends list in order for them to comment on how they look like. Or take for instance Saiful who would Twitter every 10 minutes about the story of his life:
8:50 am - good morning, people! rise n shine
9:00 am - making some scrambled eggs and pancakes for bfast
9:13 am - yum yum
9:25 am - gotta poop. last nite's curry was too hot to handle...

Is that what life has become?

Apparently, it is on the way. More and more people are taking up this "social expert" pill as they are willing to communicate with a larger network of people but at the same time they are slowly sacrificing precious face-to-face interactions with their friends, colleagues and perhaps family. It would be easier doing it online, isn't it? Of course these sites are an excellent way to keep in touch with those who are far away from you like my family back in Malaysia or my Australian cousins but I don't see the point of writing on your friend's wall who lives in the same apartment block as you do since you could just go to your friend's place and have a proper, meaningful chat.

As of the time of typing, I am on my Facebook account to check people's updates on what's going on in their life. Yes, I'm still an addict who would just refuse to click that "Logout" button till I am satisfied with all those (almost) meaningless information on other people's lives. But slowly I'm restraining myself from mercilessly commenting on other people's post (nowadays it seems you can comment on anything!) & abstaining from those dreaded quizzes that others are so fond of. I only interact by writing on people's wall or by sending them a message & limit the number of photo albums in my profile. Call me a control freak but that's the best way to curb my enthusiasm on it.

As for you, try as much as you can to not make it as part of your life. I know it's very hard but there's more to life than being consumed by it. Be as much as independent from this technology because you don't want to be slaves of the machines, do you?

1 comment:

Shazwan Azizan said...

Tell those Tweet freaks they aren't superstars or bands who post Tweets religiously to avoid interviews or to an extent the paparazzi. People don't give a shit about them. At least not the masses anyway.