By Adarsh Badri:
Do you have any friends? If anyone had asked this question to me, I would have said, “Well, yeah, I have many friends. In fact, I have more friends than you. I probably have thousands of friends on Facebook, many followers on Instagram and Twitter.” Facebook currently has over 1.7 billion monthly users, which is more than the population of India.
From having huge friend lists on Facebook to gaining more likes and followers, social networking sites have changed our lives. The rise of social networking sites shows that we have become an extremely narcissistic society. Our happiness depends on the number of likes and the most recent photograph we posted on Instagram. Or else our happiness depends on the number of followers we have on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. Most of us boast about the number of friends we have on Facebook.
We say that we have thousands of friends. But who exactly are they? Usually, online friends are people you don’t really know. But perhaps, you have met them at a certain place, or on some social networking site, or some event. It could also be because they look really hot, or you like making new friends. They could also be a friend of a friend. Every time you see a green little dot beside their name, you are tempted to say ‘hello’.
When the cell-phone beeps with notifications we become happy because our brain receives dopamine. In today’s age, we have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat to share our feelings with the outside world. Yet, real relationships have been buried by our addiction to social networking. In fact, many relations have been ruined because of people’s addiction to social media. Technology has made everyone more selfish. Many friendships are broken because of our cell-phones.
The obsession with amassing followers, getting more likes, being popular, has made us become what others want us to be. Not what we want to become. Even as we have thousands of friends on online sites, we might not have anyone to share our feelings with. In a way, social networking sites have revolutionised the world by connecting society. But the same social networking sites have made us more and more anti-social.
Social networking sites have undoubtedly provided a platform to connect with the outside world. In fact, my article will be shared on social networking sites to spread the message. I urge you all to not to neglect your real-time relationships and friendships. Talk to the people around and spread happiness. Let us make this world a much better place to live in.