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"Words can't describe me", is how Adnan Patrawala, 16 yr old teenager from Mumbai, India had described himself on his Orkut profile. However, his kidnappers and murderers got to know a little more of him and ensnared him into a trap which ultimately led to the death of the young boy. This is perhaps an extreme example of the social impact of these social networking sites such as Orkut, Facebook, MySpace and Friendster on today's youth. But there is no denying its presence or its effects in our lives and minds today.
Often these days when we make new friends we do not ask, "What's your number?" Or "What's your email id?" Instead we ask, "What's your MySpace"? or "Are you on Facebook?" Such is the impact of these sites on our lives .The way we speak, the way we interact and the way we think is changing. Words such as scrapping, blogging, teasers---which a few years back wouldn't have made any sense to anybody; but today it's being used with so much spontaneity.
However, these sites fulfill a very basic criterion of humans. It is that of communication. People living in extreme corners of the world are seen to be getting married, friends from far-off places are able to keep in touch with each other and lovers from two parts of the world stay connected with each other's emotional needs. These help us make new friends, stay in touch with the old ones and let us know more about the persons we care... their likes, dislikes, interests and emotions.
There is an element of addictiveness in these sites and the youth are indeed getting endeared more and more into this addiction. The most appealing thing among these sites is that they provide a platform for the individuals to express their views, gives them the freedom of choice and expression... from anti-war campaigns to global warming issues, from Harry potter fan clubs to Osama bin Laden hate clubs... there is everything for everyone to share and speak about.
However, we are often misled by the convenience of the social networking, and the fact that is seems much less personal. Most people give much less thought to making friends on social networking than they do in real life. For some it is about boasting of having more friends,other may feel it rude to reject such an innocent request.It's simpler to add friends online,even those we don't know; especially since few see the harm in this.
The fact is,the second you add someone to your friend list,they might instantly gain access to the kind of information you might not even share with your "offline" friends.Your favourite movies,songs,books ,interests,hobbies,your list of friends,perhaps even your phone number,address,birth-date, and nicknames are shared with your friends on social networks. All this information that your offline friends might only get to know over years of interacting with you, however on an online social network people simply hand it over on a simple request. it does seem to be that online people friendship are more serious than offline ones.
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