Drop the towel!
Being naked is the best feeling ever. Rather than to get covered with cotton and linen. Not only that, it is sexier. There is comfort. Naked time is good. There are things we like to do naked. To share each other’s flaws and just do what we like. When things come in ‘open,’ love giving is easier. To remove clothes off is a has-to-be done thing when it comes to love, I think. The more we peel out things, rip things off, the lighter we become and less complicated, hardly anything to cling on. This is what the enlightened one has taught us.
But to be naked on social media? Something is fishy.Just as I started my second year in university, I decided to drop Chinese and instead picked three modules each from Mass Communication, Marketing Management and Human Resources Management. A week ago, I sat for the second paper in Mass Communication. The very first question was to do some serious discussion. It reads as following;
“To what extent social media helps day-to-day communication, politics and socio-economic development? Do you think social media is doing bad than good? Critically discuss along with examples.”In a parallel universe, no university student would it expect critical discussions or ‘new’ questions to appear on a paper. A little change can create rages. Social media was never taught and no such question appeared in last semester’s paper. Neither in 2013. It is unfair. This was the common feeling once the paper was done.
It was too funny to me. Even those who have nothing to say about social media are spending more than half a day on Facebook. Everyday people waste time to make sure that democracy is rooted properly. Everyday they worry about the state’s structure. Nobody will like to break the continuity and try something new. Anyway we’ve got to live with these lunatics and vandals. A change is a difficult thing in our society. Same with these question papers. Students like ‘ragged’ questions. Never mind. As long as we can pass, let’s say. But it’s good when things get real in exams.
This question took me back to the days of Aluthgama, the Bodu Bala Sena, Sharpova and even reminded me of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. We know how to troll and to keep trolling safe. There are enough and more funny pictures and memes full of satire about Ministers and President that go viral on social media. But hardly war is raged in public. We don’t know if personal attacks happen outside social media. But there is a less possibility. Almost every President and Minister on Earth now uses Twitter and Facebook. It has become an ‘online parliament’ to pass laws, amend laws or to repeal them. We are all altered into instant critiques, watching fights and creating fights about pictures and statuses.
Social media is so popular that it even goes finding personal routines ranging from celebrities to the average citizen. Ever wondered about celebrities and reputed idols giving birth to sons and daughters? Their dieting schemes? What they do on weekends? How many girlfriends? How many exes? People are keen and happy to know about these. We have reached a point where we make others know how we feel, what we watch, eat, read or where we are and what we are up to in an instant.
We live at a time where one updates on Facebook ‘in a relationship’ today and tomorrow it turns up ‘single’. They even verify for robots, especially when dealing with passwords, surprisingly. Facebook and many other social networks have conquered our lives, histories and private stuff. They have their policies to own the data we feed on these sites. Even photographs.
Privacy is invaded. Still anybody can look for you. Anybody can view you being tagged or what you share despite the privacy settings available. They will show for how long you have been active online, the time you saw the message or whether it was unread.
Social media lets people around to have a close eye on us. We don’t like being watched by others. There are things we don’t like to talk about. We all prefer to have something only for us, unless we feel comfortable to share them with another. But more or less social media has taken all control that unthinkingly we give information out.
Many who are a part of social media are naked. A few will know to shut their mouth and keep the private things private.Gates and walls are useless. More or less we are wall-less in social media. We welcome thieves willingly. So it’s ok. Even the wall around National Archives Building in Colombo has been taken off. No more cage-like buildings. Looks nicer than it was. Yet social media will require steady and strong gates.
Cables are too mainstream to share information so fast. Especially things we don’t like to make public. Only if there is a network breakdown, you are lucky then.
Featured in "The Nation" newspaper on 3rd August 2014
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