Social Networks
The communication in the conditions of present-day Zeitnot (German for shortage of time, time trouble) is the sum of telephone conversations, internet-messengers, which gain or lose popularity and, of course, social networks.
The surrounding world sometimes gets aggressive, and the psychology of a ‘hobbit’ begins to dominate people’s consciousness. It means that somebody wants to take refuge and to hide, giving up real communication. But as it is still necessary, modern means of communication are of great help.
ICQ on a mobile phone is a time-killer. Somebody uses it in class, so that the teacher wouldn’t distract him, others launch the application in hope to get a message from an acquaintance, anticipating the well-known ‘cuckoo’ sound. What for?
It is still not the greatest evil.
Social networks are most dangerous for an unprepared person. The presentation of this phenomenon as a means to keep in touch with the friends is just a psychological trick, a bait which is colourful and attractive, but poisonous at the same time. Having swallowed it once, one gets hooked on social networks.
Losing personal dignity and devastation of the inner world start with harmless logging in to the account once in a few days. One just checks out the news, new photos added by the friends. He wants to know if there are any contact requests or new messages. By the way, all the contacts in any social networks are called ‘friends’.
It is not accidental. Friends are close people. People you spend a lot of time with, you have common interests with and share the same values. Parents and children, spouses or just people who spend time together may be friends. Those who you have seen only once or just heard of are not even acquaintances. But in a social network they are friends, too.
One comes home after work and gets into the social network. The ‘friends’ are there. And The consciousness gives birth to a pleasant picture, producing a cosy atmosphere. Such communication doesn’t oblige you to anything, you may simply leave a comment to a status, picture or song. It is convenient.
‘What a beauty you are in this photo!’ – this type of comments is typical not only of teenagers’ albums but also of mature women. They are mature physically but not mentally. A conclusion may be drawn with confidence that social networks shift the terms of maturation for an indefinite time, implanting infantility and silliness in people.
Social networks are constantly being upgraded. Really it’s not possible at all to create an absolute system from scrape, that would meet user’s demand. But under the guise of care of users, the developers and ideologists (!) hog-tie them with sticky threads, which makes it impossible to release oneself.
I heard a few times something like this: ‘I dropped using social networks and I haven’t logged in for a month’. A striking similarity to alcoholism! The proportion is the same – a month of abstinence, then entering the login and password again. Hooked anew!
The Ideology is another important aspect. Some people feel proud to be of dominant influence, to be leaders. A new user is a small brick in the basement of new ideology
A social network is a powerful economic instrument, with its own currency and services provided in return for it. It is hard to imagine what may grow on this soil in a couple of years.
Now let’s think about silence. The electricity is cut off. As the result there is no Internet. No social networks. No entertainment. I have witnessed several times the withdrawal pains of people addicted to the Internet. The electricity was cut off just for a few hours. Their life terminated. There was only complete frustration. And wet eyes in some cases. It was real, no invention.
And what if silence lasts for a few hours or days? I mean utter silence. The world without electricity, the first stage of the apocalypse. Many people will go crazy before the moment one has to take pains to survive, just because of the absence of comfort and high technologies.
And if we imagine if one day the social networks stop functioning? It will not only cause the frustration but also induce a wave of suicidal behaviour acts. Why live if the most valuable doesn’t exist anymore? Just be a hobbit in a hole, who is afraid to show up in the light of the day?
The development of communication means starting with the telegraph and the telephone puts an end to real human communication. And it continues to destruct inexorably the world of the human being making it increasingly technologized and automatized.
Automation is a reduction of time costs. It is good for production, not for life. It turns life into production, too and reduces it to physiological processes, removing the most important component, which is human soul.
If we think it over and ask ourselves what we gain extra time for (as the result of automation of objective reality), the answer will not be understandable. What do we spend this time on? We economize on something and invest time as an absolute value into utterly useless things, such as social networks.
Isn’t it easier to just take a phone and call the one you want to associate with? It is not at all expensive compared to financial investments into gigabytes of Internet traffic or to a package of chips at the supermarket.
Walk to your friends, knock on their doors. A knock on wooden surface is sure to surprise them more, than any online sound. Ring the doorbell and it will be different from what you hear in a social network when you get a new message. Don’t save time – go on foot, contemplating the sky and the sun…
Every login to a social network moves the user away from the people who are dear for him. It is like an injection in a vein, though it seems to be safe for health. Physically, but not mentally.
Be yourself…
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