You’re Name -----> Don’t Write Your Name Here Essay

Lam’s view of “I Tweet, Therefore, I Am”

Lam seems to be focused on the issues of this age. He emphasizes over the importance and intervention of social media in the life of the present day. His depiction can be presented in his quote where he states “we devote so much time to the virtual world that sometimes we forget about our own realities and our priorities”. His essay indulges me in to the deep analysis of the presented thought. It made me realize the fact that social media and its subsequent effects do not allow us to live in reality or in the moment. Instead, most of the audience or users of social media and other technological advancements such as smart phones stay in the virtual contact but have no time for the people in real life.
We often try to review the realities from the lens of the technological gazettes which behold all our focus on the point that it dilutes the reality. In one of his findings, he presented his opinion by stating that the real event is no longer as important as its virtual image. This also leads us to various dimensions of the argument which could be considered.
Firstly, it can be commented that we being the social human have the instinct to pose ourselves and to express ourselves in the light of our perception. Telling lies smartly in public is perhaps in the nature of human acquainted with the art of presenting false observations, arguments to gain attention and manipulating the situations. This particular natural instinct grants him too much of the recognition when social media networking is considered. Consequently, not only the false images of personal beliefs, likes and dislikes, choices and events are posted on social networking sites but are often spiced with the false expressions and emotions. The connection of expressions and emotions to the words has been manipulated considerably over time. Personal experiences are no longer posted in the true essence. In fact the people try to tell something to gain recognition and attention among the mass. In short most of us would certainly agree with the prime observation of Lam and his perceptions. Let’s consider the theme from the very base. The most important aspect of networking is the emotional connection that evolves between the two people out of sharing experiences, emotions and vibes. The social networking successfully provides the option to share experiences but it has no moral system to identify the authenticity of the emotions or feelings attached. People often exploit this fact and hence exploit each other via several relationships. It could be explained with the help of a personal experience. Some weeks ago, some misunderstanding got created between me and my friend. We tried to talk about it because we are really good friends. Eventually, she told that she was upset because she was a bit hurt because of my comments which were related to her. The post was visible to public which means anyone could read them. I had no clue that this aspect could be offensive in a way until now. I felt embarrassed for such a thing which did not seem too important to me. I could never notice this unless she started to ignore my text messages. She often replied even my forward messages but then she was totally ignored to even my calls. I then tried to recall if there was something I had said or done which could have hurt her and my mind instantly took me to that post. I sensed a bit from her curt response but then I assumed she would be too busy to respond properly which actually was not the reason. After two weeks, I tried to seriously think about it and that why she would stop communicating with me. I tried to reach her and when things got cleared she replied me with an apology for being non responsive. It was a delayed emotional response but she stated the reason of her behavior and I made an apology as well. This could be sorted out earlier but she deduced the meanings accordingly and took a wrong image. Things got settled later through the same technological tools and everything was fine. However I have observed that sometimes the relationships get so much affected especially because of such networks that people even decide to leave each other.
I would also like to mention a friend a mine that used to post offensive statuses in shape of quotation, images and videos on Facebook which were capable of hurting a number of friends and relatives who were silently and indirectly subjected to teasing. Thus the social networking sites are open licenses for people to harm the feelings of others.
The other very obvious impact on social interaction is the fact that social media networking is gradually taking place in our social gatherings. Such a scuffle is slowly killing the natural guts of communication skills, face to face conversations, eye to eye contact and passing smiles to strangers. These are the strings of human race that distinguishes them from any other creature in the universe. The complete reliance over message keys has become a shelter for most of us who feel shy to speak or open up in public. Often the people on roads and railway stations are noticed holding their cell phones and gadgets and they don’t communicate much with their fellow passengers. Such a behavior not only depicts an arrogant attitude towards others but also hurts the elder people who might genuinely need to talk to us.
Another important factor that is imposing magnificent impact over the everyday behavior is the art of expressing false feelings or the pretense in general. People have learnt to manipulate this side of their communication and use it to often exploit to get certain advantages. It has become easier on these sites to have fake relationships and exploit the people in the name of love. Boys and girls are often found flirting with each other and abusing. People also try to make fake profiles and use the pictures they can easily find on Google to impress or attract others. A number of cybercrimes have also been practice through these platforms.
A number of variations in the language and communication standards are also observed. The short words e.g. LOL, ROFL, IKR and so on have added to the slang dictionary and people are deviating away from the real essence of language especially English. This can be found in the youngsters who feel privileged in using such a form of language and consider themselves as the part of “cool” lot.
All these aspects of communication on social media are slowly diluting the emotions and expressions of human being which is an essential component of affective networking. Discussions over topics, analysis and thoughtful chats are almost absent in such networking platforms. Statements and comments often get misunderstood and create misunderstanding which further corrupts the interaction and relation between the friends and family members. Back in the time when social networking gadgets were absent, people were closed to each other and they always cleared the confusions which were aroused. Communication was effective, direct, real and influential.
Thus the social gathering of that time could actually be regarded as deep and insightful meetings which allowed individuals to learn from the experiences and analyze the depth of statements or the truth behind the arguments. They could also send the vibes, emotions and diverse expressions. Families and friends were close in the real meaning and cared for each other. The absence of the “real life” at the social platforms has left the people with the virtual weapons of creating distances. Therefore, it can be regarded that social media networks and platforms have become more distressing over the time than the support. Although they allow people to remain in contact with the people living in far off places but there is no balance anymore in the positive and negative side. This has somehow ruined the real meaning of life and communication and affected so many relationships. Several researches also reveal that these sites elevate depression, complexes and anxiety in individuals.