This was the status my friend posted on Facebook on his father's birthday. And no marks for guessing, his dad is not on Facebook. And there are more chances are that his dad was sitting right next to him reading a newspaper when my friend posted this status. Immediately, the status was filled with comments by friends of my friend wishing for his dad's birthday. So, why did such personal things like wishing someone on his birthday become so public? I've seen people wishing 'Happy Mother's day' on social media. I've seen people checking in their location on Facebook when they are on their honeymoon. Seriously people, do you have anything called PERSONAL?
The advent of social media has ripped our privacy apart and today everyone's life is out in the open for everyone to see. There is nothing to hide. People upload their marriage photos, people upload their son's photos as soon as he is born, people cry on Facebook over their parent's demise, people delight on Orkut over their promotion, people feel sad over their breakup on Twitter and people share their wedding celebrations on Youtube. But do others care? Some people might really care but most of them don't. Creating an illusory happy life in a virtual world online is the latest fad among people.
The number of likes(Facebook) or the number of followers(Twitter) a person gets has become directly proportional to the popularity of the person. People are willing to go to any extent to get as much likes as possible.
News like this(Female Tourist Plunges to Death While Taking a Selfie) is proof of the impact of social media on today's life. As mentioned in this article, (Has Technology Surpassed Humanity?), people have gradually stopped inhabiting the real world and are more comfortable in the virtual online world.
The humongous development of such online life has taken abusing to a new level. It is easy to hide your identity online and this has become the cause for trolls and haters spamming the Internet. Everyone is abused, every action by a celebrity is dissected and analysed, every move by the Government is cheered and booed in equal measures. Each and every one of us must have come across such trolls at least once and I must say, it is very irritating. Yes, online life has become such a big headache that people have started suffering from depression and associated symptoms more and more.
