“Man is a social animal. You know
what does that mean? We all need
friends. It is fun to interact with people, you get to learn new things…” No,
No. This is not some dialogue from “me too” novel of undergrad kid. I was in
second standard when my parents got a complaint that I stay aloof and do not
mix with other students. After the above little pep talk, well, I decided to
make an effort to be a “people person”. And, guess what now I just enjoy talking
to people (even if they don’t feel the same). I have 738 friends on Facebook
and 25 followers on twitter. Wait, this is not how I was supposed to tell this
story.
So, the story begins in 2005. I was in junior college,
and someone told me about Orkut. Till then my internet usage was limited to
surfing Wikipedia (yah, right!), and sending email to cousins in US (asking for
Harry Potter original copy & I love NYC T shirts). But now I was able to
“script” with my friends whom I practically met everyday. “Orkutting” was the new term I had
learnt. For me it was the coolest thing until…until Facebook happened. Now it was all
about “Liking” and “posting”. “Social networking site” was the buzzword. Though
I didn’t understand the purpose of networking with the friends I already knew
or random profiles raising apprehensions. Still… C’mon, now I could just update
my status and let people know "I was watching movie" or "I am feeling blue", I could
collect points in Farmville, take “Which Friends character are you?” quizzes, I
could brag about new haircut or make others jealous by updating status like “
With the coolest gang @ most happening place”. I mean seriously how else would
I have learnt all these things if not for Facebook. People were also bragging
about twitter handles, but this was a small bunch then and nobody really knew
what purpose twitter solved apart from the fact that it was “cool” to have a
twitter handle. Now they were trimming their FB status messages and twitting.
It
was until I started working when I was exposed to this complete spectrum of social networking sites, Linkedin, Blogspot, Youtube, forums. Facebook also
had new improved functionality; using free time in office (strictly avoiding
the word wasting or killing) and catching up with long lost friends(who were working in the same city). Also I started
writing my poems and short stories on a blog and hoped that some random
stranger would stumble upon this link and read. (It is definitely less desperate
than begging your friends to read and appreciate your writing)
By this time I thought I knew all that is
to be known about this “social media” until marketing @spjimr (#spjimr?) happened.Connecting with admissions committee for queries and getting to
know your batch mates before joining; these online forums and my dear old
friend Facebook showed their true power. And then one fine day…bam! Lightning struck. I have started
studying subjects like Integrated Marketing communication and Social Media
Marketing. Believe me, my “e-world” is completely changing now. I can, not only
Google something but also find out its search trend over the years across
geographies. There are statistical parameters to measure Facebook activity.
Right from helping me select a cup of coffee (Consumer behavior analysis though
tweets and likes) to conveying my random thoughts to the random e-world out
there, Twitter can do it all! This social media is like this powerful tool or like a completely new world of immense possibilities. Google is coming up with “Glass”
device. You can look at a person through this glass and you can literally get a
“social media print” of a person and know everything about him/her. They claim
this will make conversations with strangers interesting. (Yah, right?! Like we
are always hoping to talk to random people on the street about their pet dog or a
latest fashion purchase). Now that I think about this whole “social media” journey, I think it also in a way has practically shaped the “social behavior” of our generation.
Liking, preferences, lingos, the way we interact with people, everything. And
this is THE next big thing, a way forward.
But I personally feel at times that I am standing at the cross roads,
more like a highway and a small lane you can say. The highway, where I am learning all about the power of social media, how it’s turning the business
model, how it is becoming a critical part of IMC…in short how it is changing the
whole world, as we know it. On the other side there is this “people ...actual
people lover” me standing in the lane, lane connecting to the past, to much simpler world
of my childhood. I know, that farther I will go on the highway, more I
will be disconnected from this simpler, “real” world, I will miss interacting
with people personally, the whole thrill in the mystery of not knowing about
certain people you see or coloring stories for fun about people you meet will
be lost. I will miss observing human behavior, interacting and finding new
things about people, I will miss normal hangouts with friends where “uploading
pictures on FB” and “checking in “ is not the purpose of the meet. I will probably be
one of those few carrying a hard cover paper book walking alongside kindles. But
then, this highway is THE road to future. Choice is easy. Glass there is more
than half full.
And who knows one day, I will pass on the wisdom to the next
generation, “ Man is social (media) animal”
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