I still remember the first time I got a letter from my school friend whom I had left behind when we moved cities. I fondly recollect the adrenaline rush of seeing the blue envelope; I couldn't contain myself till I read through the contents and simply wanted to reply back query-to-query asap. Slowly, the joy of writing letters waned to sending seasonal greeting cards.
Emails brought their own share of excitement, and I can even now recollect the time we huddled around to register our first (Hotmail) IDs. The fun we had coming up with the whackiest mail IDs, and then the rush to exchange IDs. Then there used to be this constant urge to log in and check for new mails. Letters, greeting cards had long given way to emails and e-greetings. Blue Mountain, Flash greetings, Archies and Hallmark went laughing to their banks probably because of us. Soon, when chat was discovered, emails were used to just communicate the times to catch one another online and to forward jokes.
Yes, emails are still in use officially today, but just think back: when was the last time you actually wrote an email to someone? Why write, indeed, when you know your friend is probably at the beauty salon right now or is away on vacation for the week and at this very minute is actually enjoying a boat ride?
Social networking and microblogging sites have brought us closer in many ways and yet have pushed the joy of personal communication as far away as possible. One tweet, one post, one status update, one message for all.
Took a vacation? Go click-click-click and update the pics for the world aglore. Attended a family get-together, put up pics and invite comments. Cooked a new dish at home?..before you let your family taste it, you want to get it dressed and click a snap for the blog. Life seems like an open book for all out there to see. And now with microblogging, 'followers' can know what is happening in one's life by the minute. Well almost.
Despite all these overwhelming means of communication, people hardly have the time for each other. Am not complaining or getting preachy here, for I am very much guilty of the same. When my sister went to London for her higher studies, I studiously emailed her for close to a month. Long emails telling what we did during weekends slowly gave way to video chats and then trickled down to a few messages a day, and now within a couple of months I am quite happy enough seeing her status updates on FB or a photo comment.
Is this what happens when there are way too many means to communicate? Is this signalling some kind of overbearing, omnipresence of technology? Where does all this go from here? Will future generations feel overwhelmed by this all-pervading tech and go completely off the grid? Only time can tell.
Emails brought their own share of excitement, and I can even now recollect the time we huddled around to register our first (Hotmail) IDs. The fun we had coming up with the whackiest mail IDs, and then the rush to exchange IDs. Then there used to be this constant urge to log in and check for new mails. Letters, greeting cards had long given way to emails and e-greetings. Blue Mountain, Flash greetings, Archies and Hallmark went laughing to their banks probably because of us. Soon, when chat was discovered, emails were used to just communicate the times to catch one another online and to forward jokes.
Yes, emails are still in use officially today, but just think back: when was the last time you actually wrote an email to someone? Why write, indeed, when you know your friend is probably at the beauty salon right now or is away on vacation for the week and at this very minute is actually enjoying a boat ride?
Social networking and microblogging sites have brought us closer in many ways and yet have pushed the joy of personal communication as far away as possible. One tweet, one post, one status update, one message for all.
Took a vacation? Go click-click-click and update the pics for the world aglore. Attended a family get-together, put up pics and invite comments. Cooked a new dish at home?..before you let your family taste it, you want to get it dressed and click a snap for the blog. Life seems like an open book for all out there to see. And now with microblogging, 'followers' can know what is happening in one's life by the minute. Well almost.
Despite all these overwhelming means of communication, people hardly have the time for each other. Am not complaining or getting preachy here, for I am very much guilty of the same. When my sister went to London for her higher studies, I studiously emailed her for close to a month. Long emails telling what we did during weekends slowly gave way to video chats and then trickled down to a few messages a day, and now within a couple of months I am quite happy enough seeing her status updates on FB or a photo comment.
Is this what happens when there are way too many means to communicate? Is this signalling some kind of overbearing, omnipresence of technology? Where does all this go from here? Will future generations feel overwhelmed by this all-pervading tech and go completely off the grid? Only time can tell.
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