Social Networking:Aye or Nay

I have bee an honorary netizen for 5 years now,having spent much of my time at myspace,hi5,forums,Deviantart and a whole bunch of other whats-its-names,now tired but not retired and peacefully settled at Orkut.This association of mine with the world wide web has been looked at,dissected,commented on and criticsed from various angles ranging from "OH!your myspace page is SO HAWT!"(myfriends), "Do something constructive"(my dad),"If I open an account,will you email me daily?"(uh Mom,we live in the same house),"See if she doesn't get molested,I'll change my name"(once a year lulus-the kind whose interaction with you is limited to a phonecall on your birthday which goes something like this :

I-dunno-who:Hey happy birthday! Me:Thank you!!

-dunno-who:So whatcha doing today? Me:*rattles off stuff* ,I-dunno-who:K,gtg see you then. Me:k,take care. I-dunno-who:Oh btw,you did recognise me didn't you? ME:UHH..*UH-OH*!)

As I look back now and contrast between Then and now,I recognise a pattern.The *then* patternwas "Meet as many new people as possible,decorate your page with the glitziest icons,the sparkliest backgrounds,ape your new friends as much as possible to meet more newer and and more popular myspace/hi5 whores friends. And the now pattern is Throw decorating to the winds,connect with your friends,the kind you did or still do get to see on a more or less regular basis.Blogging,however,is a different issue.I have met such wonderful people,got to know their views on different things,get to laugh with them,wish to be a borrower of their pains whther I *meet* them or not.

Social networking can be a boon or a curse,depending on how you use it.I for one have never put personal information like contact numbers or my address online.You just don't do it.The networking sites are sitting up,and there are n number of options to lock your albums or lets you limit the amount of information you want to show to people who are not in your immediate cirle or *list*.I have been silly at times,let slip stuff and had sulked or frowned whenever anyone chided me for it.Major dumbo,I know.You can do a lot of silly things when you are 13,14,15 or even at 40.Reign it in,and you'll be ok!Some people pretend like they haven't learnt to look before they leap,and well,leap.It is for the worldy wise to make sure that they find a safe place to land.The *virtual* world can be a dangerous place.A world wide masquerade,if you so please.People can be whoever they want to be so its important to watch your step.If anybody sounds wonky,don't proceed just because you have a screen and a thousand miles separating you.A few days ago Myspace removed a few hundred sex offenders from their network.But it all depends on how you use it,such is technology.You can use it to feed or blow up a whole nation,similarly you can use it to close up the distance between your loved ones,make your life easier with e-payments,e-tickets et al or pave hell with your life.Some find it too complex a medium to stay in touch,but thats totally up to them.I'm pretty happy doing what I do over here.So,over loud protests(maybe not) Miss nobody squeaks,nope clears her throat, and firmly says,Aye.

P.s:I still haven't gotten over decorating my page lol,though glitters don't attract me anymore.

Disclaimer:This post is not intended to offend anybody,you may chose what you want ,its upto you.Or any of the mentioned social networking sites.These are just my views.And neither am I encouraging teenagers or young adults to hang on to the edge of their keyboards.This is the time you *build* yourselves,use it carefully.Treat it like a ticking time bomb. :D