Facebook and Social Networking - Whose watching?

Just this other day , i was spending time with a friend , bringing in her birthday. The usual trend to "bring in" a birthday is to wait around till midnight of the night before the actual B-day... So, at around 11ish Pm , we all just sat around having a couple of drinks trying to stay up long enough to "bring it in".

Just around then was when little Miss Birthday girl got all excited about who all would have already wished her on her Facebook profile page! I mean, come on! What about the couple of her friends who actually waited around to be "present" with her as opposed to the hundred others on her friends list who just wished her - online? With one singular : Happy Birthday phrase!

But, to be honest is to accept the fact & reality that these days, the number of people wishing you on your social networking site's profile page plays a far more dearer role probably than the few friends who actually take the time to make you feel special by being around you on a special occasion.

Not only birthdays, these days, everything is public and on a profile page. Your anniversary. Your Husband's birthday, The day your dog was brought home, everything.
Life as we know it, is a profile page on a networking site.

The truth is, even if we reach the limit of a 1000+ "friends" or "connections" on any of these social network sites, in real life, hardly more than a few matter or care or bother.

But, humans , or all things living, have the tendency and the "want" to share their life with people even if some claim that they dont like the "attention". We are all attention seekers and we dont usually care about giving out as much attention as we would rather have...

Social beings = Human. Social Networking sites = Human's Life/Style.

I don't over-use my social site access. But, i dont under-use it either. It's got it's plus points, for instance, it's a great way to stay in touch with people overseas. Or people in other cities of the same country, It's also a nice way of knowing what the other people you know in general are doing professionally (and personally)..

Some people do get addicted to social networking. Some, have their moods and whims based on what's going on around their pages...
It's a funny thing to observe in people actually. But it's also a great feeling to see and observe how the world connects as one, or CAN connect as one on these sites.

Friends and Friends of Friends and Families and their Relatives. One can usually trace someone's entire social and non-social life through these sites.

Do we like to live life as an open book?
Most of us do. If we didn't, there really would'nt have been an IT boom at all...

Needless to say, little Miss Birthday girl spent the next few hours giving out generous "thank you's" to all the people who had wished her online.

Yes, at the end of it, it was the number of people who wished her that mattered most!

Probably just like you.

Or me.

Billing per second on mobile usage

As an everyday working girl, i usually and mostly and mainly communicate and live life via the magic of wireless devices: of which: my laptop and mobile phone play the lead roles.

Of course, the constant mantra of "being on the move" which in today's times translate into, "being in touch while on the move" add to the world's obsession with the latest telecom gadgets. Needless to say, with the obsession comes the pros and cons and also the - Bills.

The basic and most important rule of commerce is , "time is money". The invention of mobile technology and the constant increase in usage of the same match this age-old rule, with no bounds. As on a day like today, i can openly ""boast"" of how my work has made me a slave to technology. With my work mobile and personal mobile and my work laptop and personal laptop, i basically habitate in the new modern day's version of the 4 walls of a house. Yes, i can openly say that i live within these 4 gadgets, as does, any of my other counterparts in a busy metro.

I let my already wild imagination run wilder a few days ago...

I was in cab, passing a busy street & i kind of let my eyes wander around to see what was around me. My plain brown eyes fell upon an advert by Tata Docomo which publicized proudly their new gimmick in the world of telecom - Mobile phone usage billing per second.

Of course, majority of my peers and counterparts and enemies , foes and friends would be THRILLED to have this new theme in mobile phone billing. Any why not? Who would'nt want to save their bucks in any way possible?

Now, one of the hidden rules of commerce also doesnt let competition get in the way of retaining clients.
Which basically would mean that, Tata's new theme would soon be introduced by other mobile phone service providers, too! And why not? Who would want to loose their clients just like that to any other service provider?

That day, the day that was a few days ago... as i read the ad and thought about the chain reaction that would kick start thanks to Tata's head of product innovation using his brain, i wondered and imagined what the new world with the new 4 walls would turn into, in a few months , maybe just a meagre years from now.

I imagined a girl called "Moo" and a boy called "Doo", about 18 years of age, being in love. I imagined Moo and Doo talking endlessly on their mobile phones, endless meaning, non-stop to the core, day in and day out. And, why not? If they are in love and they get charged by their mobile phone service providers PER SECOND, why shouldnt they do the "coocheee coo" a normal couple in love is subjected to, over the phone?
I mean, there's nothing wrong with it and well, "Doo" will land up saving alot of money this way , anyway.

I imagined, "Moo" and "Doo" hardly meeting in person because it was cheaper and quicker to talk on their mobiles for hours on end.

I imagined tomorrow's couples not experiencing the lovely simplicity and natural magic of dates, watching movies together, going on a boat ride, together.
I imagined no long drives with the music playing and no road trips and no walking along the sea shore hand in hand.

And then, I looked at the "mobile billing per second" ad and thought of when my own service provider would add this theme too! And i thought of how i would probably waste more of my living hours, being on the phone.

My work cell phone rang at exactly the precise moment as did my own personal cell phone then. I looked at the 2 cell phones and started imagining a world where cell phones were actually living creatures.

I thought of how "Moo" and "Doo" could probably, in tomorrow's world, very well be 2 cell phones in love.