Come to think of it, you hardly do, don’t you? Those were the days when you always knew your friends’ faces. And, those were the days when you hung around with your friends in open places like playgrounds and treetops; not-so places like half-full water tanks and attics. And it was all so simple and carefree without any complications. Every one of you was a Huckleberry Finn and a Tom Sawyer rolled into one. Friends, by definition, came mostly from the neighborhood and also from other areas, the latter having become friends in schools and colleges.
True Friendships
The friends you make on Facebook will never stand the scrutiny if the meaning of the word “friend” as described in a dictionary is applied to them. As such, it is meaningless to have a thousand friends on Facebook and brag about it.
You routinely hear how friends on Facebook get into troubled waters by some wanton and deliberate acts of other friends on Facebook. It is not one’s case that this did not happen in pre-Facebook days. It did happen but witness how a beautiful friendship turned into a teenage love in the 1971 movie Friends that had heavenly songs by Elton John.
Compare Friendships
Did you wonder at times about the utterly superficial relationships on Facebook that lasted only until you logged off? Have you ever wondered why you do not spend hours with friends on Facebook as you ought to? As you do with friends outside the computer! Juxtapose the online friends and the real ones sitting perhaps at your side patiently for you to finish with your faceless friend on the Facebook so that you can both go off on the trekking trip you had planned earlier and, the difference between the two will hit you in the face.
Cut off Friendships
You could never, not even once, just say in real life: “I Unfriend You” and be done with it. It now only takes a mechanical click of the mouse on the button in Facebook to dismiss a “friend” without any feeling whatsoever. Just as well, because you had no feeling of friendship whatsoever in the first place.
Status reports
Status was updated by others and you never updated your own life before Facebook. You run a temperature of 99 degrees and you make it a status entry. You took some home remedy to alleviate your discomfort and that goes into status as well. Back to normal at 98 degrees? How can you not update the wonderful news? What is this? A world without anything worthwhile to do? It is not as if anyone is interested in these pointless updates.
Family Matters
Members of a family had time to spend together before Facebook. It just is not possible anymore. Siblings are busy in Facebook, parents are busy in Facebook and the domestic help is on Facebook. About the only living things in the household not on the Facebook are the house rats. Gone are those precious days of togetherness.
Read no More
That the habit of reading and writing has almost disappeared is a development that no one seems to regret right now. We will, perhaps, hurry about completely abandoning the habit and regret it in leisure.
The Bright Side Of It
The one thing I’d really like to mention that makes me thank Facebook’s entry into our lives has got to be the ease of a business reaching out to its target audience and also the facility of sharing some really good information with the people within your network. Brands have become a lot more personal, issues are resolved much faster and I get to read loads of information on some really good things shared by my friends on the feed. It has also given rise to a newer set of professions like social media marketers, local mobile marketing consultant for your business, digital content creators and the like. It does add to the little things that Facebook has done in t6he positive for us.
