I took to Facebook soon after its launch in 2006. Back then, the enthusiasm was palpable in experimenting with a new online medium which redefined the concept of connecting with friends and family online. Though as I ventured into my future this opinion about Facebook changed and I started viewing it as a ‘Snob’s Lair’ where each person despite the struggles seemed content, for reasons best known to them. This plausible fakeness was instrumental in my detachment from this platform, I turned myself into an infrequent visitor.
My perception regarding the social networking site notwithstanding, I decided to challenge my intellectual status quo and see for myself how Facebook would treat me after my longish absence. I’d gathered the courage to shun my apparent misgivings about Facebook and picked up my phone. I tapped the first few posts on my timeline with a ‘Like’, a happy smile, and even congratulated an old friend who’d been promoted at her work in a lengthy comment. Ecstatically a few minutes later I received all the goodwill through some likes, smileys, and comments! My experiment proved successful. I cannot assure if I’ll be embracing Facebook full-time like before, but it’s then that I realized something that Mark Zuckerberg had been saying all along about “connecting people”. It’s about participating in other people’s happiness and sorrow and acknowledging the upheaval in their personal lives. Even if the interaction seems virtual on social networking the emotions exchanged are genuine and worth its weight in gold!