Contributed the following article to the APRIL-MAY 'Combined' issue of VANAMUTHAM,
a Tamil Christian Monthly magazine published by Serve India Mission,
that attempts to connect the world (with its events and practical issues) to God's word.
Very early in my childhood, I learned that man is a ‘social animal’. I
remember a teacher driving this indelibly into our minds in the morning
assembly one day, “No man is
an island”. I did not understand its full import then. Over
time however, I have come to understand that we need one another and that
communication is key to both express and fulfill this need.
Man has always had the urge to connect with dear ones. Before telephones became common place towards the close of the 20th century, all long-distance communication was through postal mail with a minimum turn-around of 6 working days. However, convergence of Information Technology and Telecommunication Systems over the last decade, have made it easier now for people using different forms of communication to interconnect. It was first the explosion of email and pagers. Slowly online chat replaced emails and increased comfort with SMS and the proliferation of mobile handsets and cheaper service plans made pagers altogether obsolete. Bottom line is that communication has become faster and cheaper.
It is
true that modern communication technologies have reduced the wait time for
responses. They have also helped loved ones stay in touch with each other
anytime, anywhere and removed lot of anxiety about each other’s safety and
well-being from their hearts. However it has also led to unnecessary
communication that just fills time. Even without a need to communicate,
people indulge in empty chatter to just kill time and avoid boredom. Time that
could otherwise have been used in more profitable activities and boredom
that could have been overcome in meaningful ways are now being handled through
casual communication with acquaintances and even strangers. Modern technology
has left more time at people’s disposal and Social Networking has attracted a
great number of such folks.
Social Networking provides the power to easily locate,
connect with and communicate ideas to like-minded people. A positive outcome
has been collaborative
learning. Students in some institutions submit
assignments on a Social Networking platform. In some other, students are
asked to post summaries of the classes they attended, so those who missed
classes can update themselves by reading them. Alumni groups on Social
Networking sites have helped students decide on Colleges, Careers, etc., based
on inputs from students who had passed out earlier. Students have even got
Question papers from previous years uploaded so that they are useful for future
students when preparing for various examinations.
Social
Minefield:
However it needs to be stated that it is a minefield that
can destroy lives. A Research team in the U.S. had found students’
concentration to lapse within just 15 minutes of study, because of the urge to
check their Facebook page almost every third minute. Spending too much
time on Social Networking sites can lead one to “narcissistic tendencies” –
excessive self-love and fascination with oneself. Analysts following cultural
trends had said of Television half-a-century ago, that it
was transforming our culture into one vast arena for show business. This is even
truer of Social Network with its potential to accommodate millions on stage
compared to the hundreds or thousands that are accommodated on Television
screens. It produces a vain behavior where one is trying to show off all
the time. It has the potential to make users more prone
to aggressive and anti-social behavior too. It can also cause in users
bouts of anxiety, depression and sleeping problems.
Neil
Postman had said in his 1985 book ‘Amusing ourselves to death’, “When I hear people talk about the information super
highway, that it will become possible to shop at home, and bank at home, and
get your texts at home, and get your entertainment at home, I often wonder if
this doesn't signify the end of any community life.” This indeed has come true. It is removing all elements of
community living and driving individuals into a closet, and this is happening
from very young age. Youth are wasting time not using it to go out and play or interact
with others.
Worse
still, man's almost infinite appetite for distractions is hurtling him to his
downfall today. Today’s world is controlling him by inflicting pleasure. If they are not
wary, they could be drawn to inappropriate content on the internet and become
slaves for live. Neil Postman had recalled how correctly Huxley had foreseen
what was coming. Huxley had more than 50 years ago dismissed fears that people
in power would ban books, deprive people of information, conceal truth and make
the masses captive. He rather feared that there would be no reason to ban a book, for
there would be no one who wanted to read one; that people in power would
give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism; that truth would be drowned in a sea of
irrelevance; and that the masses would
become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some form of illicit pleasure.
In short, he feared that what we love
will ruin us. When one looks at the preoccupation of today’s
world with Social Networking and how it is being used, Huxley’s words have
chillingly become true.
In Closing:
“When you sit to dine
with a ruler, note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if
you are given to gluttony. Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is
deceptive”, says Proverbs 23:1-3. A popular Indian saying likewise advises us
to emulate the proverbial goose that separates the milk from water before
consuming. It would be wise to exercise such discretion and be extremely
careful about what we consume on Social Networking sites. Let us follow the
example of Daniel who resolved not to defile himself with wine from the King’s
table and stay healthy with the vegetables from his kitchen.
