By Noopur Bhandari
Social Media – Facebook has made us more densely connected than ever. Data reveals that by 2015 India will have more Facebook users than any other country. Old friends reconnect; new friendships are built. But in all this, are we becoming lonelier than ever by using facebook?
Well, the answer to this I would say is very subjective. It differs from individual to individual, their degree of usage and the purpose of their usage.
On one side, facebook has made the world a smaller place. From anything to everything happening within your social circle can be reached to us within seconds. People share their feelings, photographs, thoughts and their life events on facebook. There are various communities which individual joins and meet like-minded people sharing the same interest. Various study groups are formed on the site where people come together, discuss their doubts, share their strategies and study together.
But on the contrary, a study reveals that people tend to feel lonely and sometimes worse about themselves by excessive use of facebook. Constant updates of their friends’ success makes people envious, their happy photographs sometimes makes them think about the loneliness in their life. We tend to compare ourselves more to people around us because of facebook. Something like lesser “likes” on our facebook status or pictures than our peers triggers the feeling of dissatisfaction.
Also we inculcate the habit of constantly checking facebook for notifications, which if not there, leave us with a sad feeling in our subconscious mind in turn affecting our mood. We alienate ourselves from the real world and get more diverted to the virtual world. In certain cases it is also observed that with continuous use of facebook to interact with people we loose interest as well as undermines our confidence of engaging in real conversation. This is mainly due to the dual personality we tend to develop with its heavy usage. We are always in a fight for displaying ourselves positively on facebook which ultimately leave us stressed and often masking our own individuality. It is making us mentally as well as physically ill.
It is very easy to get addicted to facebook but how you use it depends on you. Some people develop lifetime relationships on facebook, become more aware and updated, whereas some people get trapped in it with the desire of acceptance which very often hampers their self confidence.
It is on us to use it as a boon or a bane. Excessive of anything is harmful and the same applies for facebook as well. If used properly it definitely is a very good medium to connect and increase your social circle, knowledge and these days even your business. It very easily helps to reach people at mass, various initiatives are taken, and it now acts as a medium to solve cases – “Justice4Vinit” (https://www.facebook.com/justice4Vinit ). It is a very effective tool to make your voice heard. But if that limit is crossed there are counter-effects. Thus people need to eliminate facebook as one of their priority in life. They have to realize that it is just a PART of their life and should use it as medium to communicate and exchange information, in order reap maximum benefit out of it. Otherwise it will ultimately leave you wasting a lot of your time, energy and hamper your happiness.
#STAY HAPPY, STAY BLESSED!!
