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Social Networking Sites: Adding a New Dimension to Relations TIS Staffer 4/8/2017 7:47:16 PM

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Social networking sites that came into existence with great welcome by the people world over have given birth to new kinds of social relations and interactions that were never seen before. In todays world, if you dont have a Facebook/Twitter account or any other social networking sites account you may be tagged as backward and dubbed as being one who has not been able to keep pace with time. Somehow it has penetrated the peoples mind so much that having an account in social networking sites has become as essential as having your home address. It has not only fascinated younger generation but its charm can be found among all age groups.

Sharing ones mundane things is so common now a days and it is like a daily meeting online with different people and throwing open your personal life like anything which also comes for public scrutiny. Even people update their bad mood or illness and wait to know how many people liked it and how many comments it generated about your new status. You may not get opportunity to see your cousins child but you can see him or her growing online. Networking sites have provided a stage of sharing your personal feelings which were so personal earlier to highlight before others. In a way emotions are getting more public and a thing to be shared openly going beyond the boundary line of private and public sphere of sharing.

It has widened the personal sharing and has opened it for others to feel and interact. The face to face relationship is getting transformed into on-line relationships. It can be taken as further step in the secondary relations. New norms and values of sharing have been introduced by these social networking sites. We are heading towards a very dialectical kind of personality. On one hand we are getting more and more reserved and professional in our interactions but at the very same time we are more open and personal while interacting with our online friends. People are getting more and more conscious about their online impression management. They are now more conscious about their way of interaction and presentation of their feelings. They react the way they are driven by norms of social media. In some way it has become functional by enhancing the field of personal expressions. But sometimes pouring personal feelings before others may land one in trouble, causing mental frustration and depression.

The feelings and emotions are being channelized in different ways. There can be found a new kind of grouping that was never seen before, one can discover various fans clubs, people liking a particular party, brand or religious group. Social Networking sites in a way have become a platform which is uniting people on different issues. In the past ban on some social networking sites has exposed its potential to influence and mobilize people in todays world. In any major change or movement in future the role of these social networking sites cannot be neglected in mobilization and publicity. These sites are going to prove a major weapon of uniting and provoking people on any issue.

On the other hand it has driven people in an unrealistic world of happenings. People spend hours on sites just updating their status or sharing information and it seems that the gap between personal and private life has now narrowed to some extent. These online meetings have reduced to some extent the virtual dialogues in everyday life, making online friends more important than those we encounter with in our day to day life. We have started living a life that is far away from virtual one.

We live in an alienated and unreal world of incidents, though we think now we are more connected but actually we are getting disconnected from real life. The culture of expressing oneself in a particular way has fascinated young generation to such an extent that they try to pose themselves in different ways, guided by reactions and comments on their posts. No doubt these sites have affected our life in many ways but still there are some aspects which would unveil themselves with growing time. Let us be ready to see more faces of Facebook and other social networking sites.

(Dr. Supriya Singh who did her Ph.D. in social science from Lucknow University is a Guest Faculty in the Centre for Globalization and Development Studies, University of Allahabad. Views expressed here are personal.)

The rest is here:
Social Networking Sites: Adding a New Dimension to Relations - The India Saga (blog)