Authored By: Adisha WS
First there were letters and phone calls. Few and far between. Cherished paper and expensive minutes spent exchanging the special updates or describing every detail of their days apart or the pain of being away from each other. Taking the trouble to pen down words or spending money to get in touch was considered a loving act within itself. Then came the emails - frequent and instant, with news of each day or hour even. People would sit excitedly to log into their account to see if they had any new mails to check. Forwards and chain mails became a way to bring a smile to someone across the world. Occasions brought e-cards instead of greeting cards in the mail. This was followed by the internet messenger services.
One started taking out time during their day, making appointments to spend hours chatting with their loved ones or strangers in various chat rooms to spend the time. One could see another all the way across the world through web cams and even voice chat with them. And now there are the social networking sites, which can be accessed through phones even. They allow one to keep in touch with everyone on their “ Friend’s List “ (so called ) at the same time. People can now get in touch with long lost buddies. Every minute of every hour of every day is listed in humor or in all seriousness. Celebrations are regaled by updating your status messages with pictures or quotations wishing everyone else at one shot. The charm of any new service makes the earlier one obsolete and over time the new service also loses it’s charm and then all communication stops. Now, our life revolves around World Wide Web. We see people having 100s of “friends” in their list. These include anyone they have ever met in passing as well as their closest chums. Strangers one has never met and will never meet request for “friendship” to connect to your profile. People sitting next to each other prefer to be online and text rather, ignoring each other’s physical presence. They prefer to type in a few words on the internet rather than pick up the phone or meet up personally for a heart to heart chat. One would rather be in touch with their old friends rather than reach out and make new ones to spend time with today. Wishes are exchanged over status messages and the thank yous are returned over the same as well. Sexual predators, hacking, identity theft and even home robberies are at all time high with people not being careful about what they do over the internet. Technology has wonderful applications that make life easier and yet some days its doubtful what the actual repercussions of the same actually are. Life is becoming impersonal and most days we are slaves to the screens in front of us.
Etiquettes of communications are disappearing slowly and surely. Day by day, people are falling prey to anti social behaviors. We all get upset by the indifference portrayed by our fellow beings and wonder about the dangers lurking online. A few pointers that could help in avoiding the above are -
* Pick up the phone and TALK once in while with those you want to truly connect with.
* Limit the amount of time to be spent online each day.
* When outside in a place that requires your attention, switch off your phone or put it on silent.
* Know who are most important with you and keep in touch with them personally, even if it’s just an offline message, an email or writing on their wall.
* When you are out with friends, BE with them and not with someone else online.
* Avoid adding complete strangers into your messenger list.
* Take the time to wish / thank those you care for yourself. It means a lot more.
* Do NOT mention your actual personal details online. Only people who really are part of your life need to know where you actually live or every detail of your vacation.
* Be aware of what your children are doing online. Make sure you know their passwords as well and explain to them the dangers to avoid online.
* Never click on links sent by unknown people or with vague subject lines. * When doing transactions online, be careful to sign out of your account.
* Your password should be something complicated. Try to use letters, numbers and symbols as well.
* When joining groups or fan pages online, visit them first to make sure what their actual aim is. * Unless the objective is for work or for professional use, it’s better to avoid having your own name as a user name.
* Even if you are chatting with a customer care representative online, avoid giving out details that were not on your account.
Development in technology has given us so much. So many ways to connect with people all over the world. With the huge number of advantages there are, it has it’s own disadvantages as well, which need to be recognized and steered clear of. Any technology is advantageous when used carefully and in moderation but most of all it should be used to enhance our quality of life. Let’s never forget to be cautious. Also, remember to once in a while to veer off the information superhighway to enjoy the simple pleasures this ride of life has to offer.
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Aditya
said:
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... Excellent article!! I agree,Nowadays people have two different life's one Offline and other online. Its no surprise that both are poles apart!! Anything in excess is bad,In a way technological revolution has brought the world closer but it has made distances in our Homes.People are too much cautious regarding their online look,behaviour. The steps required to decrease the influence mentioned in the article are essential to implement. |
redmatch
said:
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... You have to express more your opinion to attract more readers, because just a video or plain text without any personal approach is not that valuable. But it is just form my point of view |
rolsworth
said:
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... Your site keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now. Keep it up! And according to this article, I totally agree with your opinion, but only this time!  |
Resless
said:
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... No doubt, it can be a concern sometimes but it all depends on you..........Most of these Networking sites and all provide u sufficient options to keep urself confined as per your needs.........stil; if u wanna have some extra fun chat rooms on messenger and dating sites are always there...go have fun |
youtube marketing
said:
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... I love your website! did you create this yourself or did you outsource it? Im looking for a blog design thats similar so thats the only reason I'm asking. Either way keep up the nice work I was impressed with your content really.. |
