I have never been active in social media. I am not part of any group that I actually joined. But not long ago I was added to a couple of alumni groups and I remain part of them mostly in a passive mode.I do enjoy staying in touch with my friends and the odd forwards now and then but I must confess that I find myself quite unable to keep up with the torrent of messages.
Many of my classmates in these groups reside in India and when I wake up in the morning they have already been posting at a good clip for many hours. Not having been in the middle of it all, I feel like I have arrived late to the party. On a typical day, I open up WhatsApp and find there are more than one hundred messages waiting to be read. I realize that I will not be able to read them without being late to work. There are several videos too that have been forwarded which will take even more time to watch. I skip many messages especially those that just share a link without any context or comment just sliding the thumb down the screen.
The messages themselves come in random order so it is difficult to follow any particular thread. One of them catches my eye and interest but if I reply to that, I will be taken to the last message. Besides, what if someone else has already made the same point I am going to make? Maybe I should go through the rest of the messages to be sure. But I don't want to keep thumbing back and forth. You see my problem? Anyway, by the time I reach the end the urge to reply has usually dissipated. So I end up not replying most of the time.
I really admire those that are willing to type long messages in these apps. Some are merely forwarding stuff but there a few prolific texters (I am assuming they are typing on the phone). I also see that they are passionate about what they are posting. As for me, even with autocomplete, I find it tedious to type out long messages. Without that feature, I probably would keep to monosyllables.
Speaking of monosyllables, I must mention the emoticons that show up on the messages. Sometimes the entire message is just a couple of symbols. Not knowing which message prompted that response, I am left scratching my head (is there an emoji for that?). All I can say is that the rather grim previous message could not have drawn that response. You can probably tell that I am quite a novice with this thing but so are many others in the group, it appears.
Every now and then I find that I learn something new or gain a new perspective. We can easily go through our lives not reading or watching news or articles that run contrary to our political positions. The group exposes you to such views and on the whole I think that's a good thing. The discussions can become overheated especially when religion or politics is concerned. Unfortunately, sometimes it can even get personal and uncivil. I am intrigued to find that people who have not really been in constant touch are able to use strong language talking to one another. It is quite clear that we did not get to know all facets of our classmates even of some close friends during the time we spent in college. In the many decades that have gone by people have changed. Views which may or may not have been apparent back then have clearly evolved. We were a diverse group then and are still diverse probably more entrenched in our positions now.
One of the great things about the group is that makes it easy to get together with friends when travelling to different cities. They are always up for a lunch or dinner at scant notice and the resulting meet up is without fail enjoyable. We feel transported back to our days on campus where a special bond and camaraderie were forged among us. So we mark the occasion with a group photo or two. The waiter snaps them and one of us will share it on, what else, WhatsApp. Someone comments on how so and so has not changed at all. Many others respond with an emoji or two. But then there are others who want to know who is who in the picture proving that we have either changed enough or just gotten old and forgotten the faces or never knew a few of our classmates. I will leave you to decide which.
Many of my classmates in these groups reside in India and when I wake up in the morning they have already been posting at a good clip for many hours. Not having been in the middle of it all, I feel like I have arrived late to the party. On a typical day, I open up WhatsApp and find there are more than one hundred messages waiting to be read. I realize that I will not be able to read them without being late to work. There are several videos too that have been forwarded which will take even more time to watch. I skip many messages especially those that just share a link without any context or comment just sliding the thumb down the screen.
The messages themselves come in random order so it is difficult to follow any particular thread. One of them catches my eye and interest but if I reply to that, I will be taken to the last message. Besides, what if someone else has already made the same point I am going to make? Maybe I should go through the rest of the messages to be sure. But I don't want to keep thumbing back and forth. You see my problem? Anyway, by the time I reach the end the urge to reply has usually dissipated. So I end up not replying most of the time.
I really admire those that are willing to type long messages in these apps. Some are merely forwarding stuff but there a few prolific texters (I am assuming they are typing on the phone). I also see that they are passionate about what they are posting. As for me, even with autocomplete, I find it tedious to type out long messages. Without that feature, I probably would keep to monosyllables.
Speaking of monosyllables, I must mention the emoticons that show up on the messages. Sometimes the entire message is just a couple of symbols. Not knowing which message prompted that response, I am left scratching my head (is there an emoji for that?). All I can say is that the rather grim previous message could not have drawn that response. You can probably tell that I am quite a novice with this thing but so are many others in the group, it appears.
Every now and then I find that I learn something new or gain a new perspective. We can easily go through our lives not reading or watching news or articles that run contrary to our political positions. The group exposes you to such views and on the whole I think that's a good thing. The discussions can become overheated especially when religion or politics is concerned. Unfortunately, sometimes it can even get personal and uncivil. I am intrigued to find that people who have not really been in constant touch are able to use strong language talking to one another. It is quite clear that we did not get to know all facets of our classmates even of some close friends during the time we spent in college. In the many decades that have gone by people have changed. Views which may or may not have been apparent back then have clearly evolved. We were a diverse group then and are still diverse probably more entrenched in our positions now.
One of the great things about the group is that makes it easy to get together with friends when travelling to different cities. They are always up for a lunch or dinner at scant notice and the resulting meet up is without fail enjoyable. We feel transported back to our days on campus where a special bond and camaraderie were forged among us. So we mark the occasion with a group photo or two. The waiter snaps them and one of us will share it on, what else, WhatsApp. Someone comments on how so and so has not changed at all. Many others respond with an emoji or two. But then there are others who want to know who is who in the picture proving that we have either changed enough or just gotten old and forgotten the faces or never knew a few of our classmates. I will leave you to decide which.
12 comments:
Enjoyed these insightful comments as always and mostly everything you say resonates with my situation when it comes to Whatsapp. However, I have to say that al your blogs deserve a wider audience. I have shared the links to your blogs among my friends using whatsapp web.
Completely agree with you on this. I actually do not want to start my day with a lot of negativity and these WhatsApp groups typically offer only that. The mudslinging and bickering world of politics creeps into your phone day in and out. I have quit some groups especially from school days where I am not really in touch with most people. The few close friends are in another group where I feel free to exchange my thoughts. So I quit the larger school group.
Interestingly I found my IIT batch mates group the least active :)
Sometimes it is good not to be in constant touch. I wish WhatsApp had a feature that allows members to remain dormant and then become active when they are interested to. The mute function is not exactly doing this as you still receive all those messages.
Neelu continues to provide delightful insight into the human condition. His observations of personal What's App and social media are easily related to. Human nature being what it is, provides opportunities for connection, or division by religion and political topics. I can relate. I relish your writings. We are behind a visa or two, old friend.
Great blog, Neelu. Glad to hear that you have read your Shastipoorthi of blogs.
A great scroll down on the birth anniversary of Sankara Bhagavadpada. You have captured it all. Looking forward to catching up with you soon for a few peaceful, Vedantic moments.
You have completely missed the white elephant- the fake news and videos that started proliferating after 2014. A comment or two would be welcome.
You have caught most of the essence in this write up.
Though I have never commented till now, I read your blog and Achyut Dutt's spunkybong blog. Interestingly enough I do not think I knew either of you much at IIT.
Both the blogs do different things, and it is always nice to see the longer thoughtful opinions posted in the blogs.
One also understands that these are opinions, and should leave it at that. Wish some of our WhatsApp members would do the same and let the opinions slide, rather than try to put each others out (even if some of it is a forward of a fake news).
Thanks for your writeups.
I am only active on my college (iim not iit) whatsapp group and posting comments on youtube videos. On the whole, if you restrict your involvement like this you gain more than you lose
Agree with pkn about most of his observations. Very insightful.
Prakash H
As always you have said so much in so few words! I really enjoy reading your posts. Usually after reading them I go '..this is exactly how I feel, but how did he know?!' Social media reveals a lot about the friends we though we knew. In some of the groups the posts are not confined to mindless forwards and innuendo and one ends up learning quite a bit about many interesting areas...All in all its exasperating but occasionally enlightening and always invigourating!
Exactly right Neelu. Well said. Welcome, all, to a world I inhabited in the IIM days - a world where I did not belong.
As u rightly said I am late for the party.Nice read.Depicts truly the feelings of everyone in any Alumini group.Keep blogging.
Enjoyed the post. Very true.
Post a Comment