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Written by Wilberforce Oduya | In my last article about Facebook, I wanted to know whether the site is being used responsibly or not and I realized that in totality, the site has its positives and negatives. This raises an important question, are a majority of us using the site as it was intended? In my quest to discover this, I decided to walk into a number of cyber cafes within town to see what takes place therein especially as people visit social networking sites. What I observed revealed a generation on the brink of social degeneration.
Don’t misunderstand me, a few of us visit these sites with a positive perspective – to stay connected, and network with others, but dare I say that Facebook inventors could never have imagined that their creation would spawn one of the biggest global phenomenons ever experienced. There’s a lot to be said in support of this, but there are some sad truths involved too, which are causing people to lose touch with reality as we know it.
I am sitting on Facebook right now, yet again sacrificing some of my time to an end I cannot predict, as this is an entirely new world I’ve logged into. I’m chatting with a friend, randomly scrolling up and down the page and seeing what people have to say about their status. Although, I don’t take this stuff too seriously, to some people, it’s almost gospel truth, blurring the line between how we learn about other people, and how at the same time, we are fooled by them.
Everything we see on Facebook, lingers in the blurred area (shrouded in internet ether) where reality TV could be said to lurk. Fact of the matter is though, reality TV simply isn’t “reality”.
Yes, its participants might be in “real-world” situations, but the knowledge that there are thousands – and more often – millions of people tuning in to see the results and reactions, simply doesn’t yield “real world” results.
I use inverted commas, because that’s what reality TV shows claim to represent. While Facebook doesn’t purport to this, its millions of users are surely losing touch with the fact that what you see on Facebook can simply not always be what you get.
Vacuous status updates, photos full of innuendo and purposeful posing surely create an impression of a user that is only skewed by the disreality of it all. But people believe if, they conform to it, and check and check back to see just how people’s lives are evolving, they just might live the dream promised in the social sites.
One might call me, 'mshamba' for not being up to date about these social sites, and may be I might require clarification as I say this, but what is the purpose of tagging photos? Isn’t it to share happy moments between the tagger and the tagged? Why then, if this is the case, does one tag others photos of pornography and distasteful language? Not bearing in mind that once you tag them, others visiting their walls will assume they have an interest in the images portrayed? Isn’t this a form of image tarnishing? And does it add to my credibility as a friend, employee or leader?
Didn’t one great writer say that show me your friends and I will show you who you are? If I happen to have such kinds of friends with me on Facebook, and they share with me these photos, then I am like them too. Secondly, do you know why in many offices accessibility to these social sites is not allowed? The reason is that, employers want to retain the respect of the working environment. Imagine that you are the director of a particular firm and you realize that one of your workers spends his/her time gazing at this tagged photo or watching a video, you might excuse them, but only if this was their first time. The second you spot them might be the last day they work in your firm. As a receiver, you might not have the power to stop whoever is posting them, but you can certainly control your own or others’ viewership of them.
Parents, are you aware that your sons and daughters are in the wrong hands when they are visiting social sites? One of my sources admitted that if these sites are used as they are today, then a confused generation is in the making. To prove this, they invited me to a cyber one day where a group of five young ladies in their teens, were watching and tagging awkward pornographic photos to their friends. It is important to note that exposure to pornography at such a formative age contributes to psychological damage and immorality among the youth and even grown-ups. Indeed, this is one of the downsides to technology, and in particular, social sites. It remains untold what social damage this would cause the teenager if their friends, or enemies, posted a photo of them in a compromising position.
In addition, social sites create the wrong perception that you are an actual user, creates a self-aggrandising, self-important and nihilistic attitude towards life, the people around you, the people with access to your account and most disturbingly with reality itself.
This does not mean that social sites are altogether bad, they are a venue of learning, doing research among others positive benefits and in many cases, technology is clearly advancing humankind, curing sickness, taking us closer to space, and improving our standards of living. But it is also, at the same time, deteriorating some aspects of all of this, and too much of reality is at risk of disappearing unless we can detach ourselves from technology more often, and get back to the more authentic aspects of our increasingly digital lives.
Indeed, the whole issue of social site is debatable. I know that there are many people out there who are benefiting from these sites. If at all you are among those many, you have my upper hand, go ahead and use social sites for your benefit and in the process, humbly join me in educating the youth on how they can gain from these sites.
By Wilberforce Oduya
Email: okongowilberforce(at)yahoo.com
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