July 17, 2010

Technology

Facebook is the new medium of communication. Forget your texts, or calls, or emails. Just log into Facebook to find out what’s up and happening; what needs to be done, who’s birthday it is so that you never miss wishing them, when are applications due and what needs to be done, what’s the latest news and so on..

You might be wondering why I’m writing about Facebook after so many of my political posts seeking reflection and introspection.  Well, to be honest, I’ve never been a fan of Facebook; I find it a bit user-unfriendly, it has its ups and well, some more ups at that. But the reason which really made me think about facebook and appreciate its utility is some thing I noticed yesterday. It was a wall post by the evergreen  mentor of mine, and of so many others, Ma’am Anjum.

Mam Anjum has started using facebook as a mode of mass communication with her students of Roots School. In our days at 83 Harley street she would spend the entire day calling up everyone to let her students know of the various developments(read: classes or lectures) taking place at school. Some would pick up her calls and take the information. Other, out of fear of the unknown, would not take her calls,and thereby miss out... Now she just sets up the information that needs to be shared as her status and voila, job done! Simple and effective. You 're smart, Mam Anjum..

But you know, Mam Anjum's colleague from Portugal Mr L. Pinto might argue that mankind’s transition to technology has not been without flaws. He'll do that, I know, because he is a GP teacher. But I don't give a darn about the flaws. Negativity has to be avoided; it can't be eliminated. So big deal. Fact is that this transition has opened a plethora of opportunities for normal, non-rich, non-corporate giants, like me. I now have an easily accessible, widely recognized forum in the shape of Facebook to publish my thoughts (on this blog ) and share it with the world. I can easily carry out a smart statistical analysis from it, pinpoint a target market and tailor my posts accordingly. I can spread information, or misinformation. It s like a disease; and I have the power to infect you with it..Ooolala baby!!

One indicator of the effectiveness of facebook is how much I annoy you.  Because now, whether you like it or not, every morning, as you open your account, I shove my rant into your faces. Forgive me if I  ever end up hurting your feelings, but that is how it is (and of course, this apology is a once in a lifetime kind of thing because I’m rarely , if ever, sorry for what I say, so just take it). I am a technological activist now. Thanks to facebook and its many off shoots. So welcome to this age of the technological inception. Yea, like the inception movie, with multiple layers of a self created world. Enjoy it while it lasts. Who knows what tomorrow has in store for us.