One big happy social family!!

"Wow babe! I got a Facebook request from your MOM!!!" I heard someone screech....and just like
that twenty or so pairs of eyes around us went in search of the 'babe' in question whose mother had hopped on the bandwagon of the newest breed of parents and grandparents joining the social networking community. It is pretty cool to be a member of the same social networking site where your children, grandchildren and most of your relations are members too! Or is it?

Most of the traffic on social networking sites is young. Everybody is entitled to an opinion and today, unlike until some years before, everybody wants to express it. Youngsters join because it is 'the in thing' today. Many hop on just because their friends are on this social site, or that. There are even some children who give wrong ages just to be on the sites. Some parents allow this, some parents are not even aware! But there also is a newest entrant in this social networking scenario....parents...or for that matter, grand parents. (Of course, if Amitabh Bachchan is still young, well, so are we! Right?) We are, after all, a young country of mature people. Our population is largely educated and opinionated. It is admittedly an old cliché that in India everybody has an opinion on everything, especially when it comes to cricket and Bollywood. But it is true, isn't it? Today, almost everyone we know and some even we don't know are our 'friends' on these social networking sites. All the friends who are separated by distance and their individual busy lives can virtually get together at the end of a tiring day and check what their friends have been up to. Many long lost friends get a second chance because of these sites. Many join out of necessity, to be in touch with children who are abroad or otherwise far away......as for some parents and grandparents, social networking sites and the internet generally, is the only way of keeping track of their loved ones.

It is definitely great to see that retired parents and grandparents are trying to get back in touch with their old friends and colleagues and keep themselves in the know. After all, what does anybody want more than happy and satisfied elders? Internet is the easiest, cheapest and the most convenient mode of communication today. So, on the one hand youngsters may feel that its too much censorship that parents are a part of their social circle, but on the other hand, it is good that the idea of socializing, no matter what age, is taking strong hold in our country. Agreed, there are a few hesitant participants, but it is still good to see the idea catching up. 

In a country like ours, joint families have been always the norm. It is only in the past decades that the idea of nuclear families has evolved. (and how!) These social networking sites, have once again brought the big happy joint family together, I must say. You don’t really have to visit people now regularly or write to them (not even email) to stay connected. Anytime one feels like seeing a favourite nephew or a sister…all you have to do is log on to Facebook! Simple….but then, where is the joy of hanging out together? You will get to see your favourite little cousin’s photo, but is it the same as sharing that private joke with her in person? Facebook gives us updates on everybody, to an extent where its beginning to feel like we almost live in the same house…but will that stop us from visiting? Well, I for one sure hope not!