Facebook as we know
THE recent suicide committed by two siblings in Uttara has deeply saddened and shocked the nation; our deepest sorrows are with the single mother. Keeping aside the societal and domestic unhappiness caused by the separation of the parents, another aspect that might be missed is the part played by Facebook in this tragedy. It seems the father, who currently resides in China with his second wife and their children, often posted pictures of vacations he was making with his new family. The mental torture and feeling of abandonment, jealousy and probably even misplaced remorse felt by these teenagers cannot be comprehended. Did Facebook amplify their grief which they could not manage? What started off as a medium for communication and connectivity has metamorphosed in to something larger than life!
Don't we fill the tickle of 'checking in' when we visit the new restaurant in town, or are invited to Westin? When we are travelling don't we take a scenic picture or a 'selfie' and think it will look good in Facebook. Posting a status or using high-minded quotation of Oscar Wilde and seeing many likes don't we feel joy; at the same time aren't we depressed when our 'shared' 9gag or Buzzfeed video only garners 4 likes! Don't get me wrong reader it is not the sharing that is the issue but when we start doing things predominantly so that we can share it in Facebook that thing become problematic. Don't be disingenuous reader and try to convince yourself that you are among the select few who haven't been infected with this vanity engine. If this was limited to individual vanity, nobody needs to bother but because it affects others and has real life consequences especially for underage that we need to be wary of it; recently news came out that Steve Jobs himself significantly limited how much technology his kids used at home.
In Facebook we create a persona where everything is excessive, either we are leading the perfect life, or wallowing in self-pity; some are true patriots, others religious luminaries and some Socrates reincarnate. Since we are cognitive misers and self-centred, we make the faulty calculation subconsciously that others are being truthful in Facebook while we are being disingenuous. The result is other's vanity makes us less content and we try to overcorrect it by either reacting with our own overblown vanity or sliding deeper into depression. On top of that our telecom operators have now made Facebook browsing free, which is sure to garner loyalty and increase internet usage. But one has to ponder the societal implication of having potential 30 million internet users, significant number of who are teenagers, now having access to Facebook before they are adequately capable of coping with its pressure.
The writer is a recent graduate, Kings College, Cambridge.
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