The New Social Order

Ever thought how much time we devote each day on net on an average?

I was just trying to figure out why is it that my reading habits have changed after becoming a habitual net surfer.Much has been said about the impact of satellite TV and new channels on the young minds, but since internet penetration in India is still abysmal as compared to other developed nations their has not been any extensive study on the role and impact of internet on our day to day lives.

Well if you are still guessing hard what am I trying to tell then try this simple test.

Do you find punching keyboards keys comfortable than holding a pen?

Is your typing speed better and writing speed?

Do you often forget spellings of simple words while writing on a piece of paper?

Do you feel like having a spell check option or auto correct option while writing an office memo manually when your computer is down?

Do you automatically punch the your log in password without looking at the keyboard?

Do you often think in terms on .Net .Com and XML,rss feeds.

Do you find chatting on yahoo messenger convenient than calling a friend on his/her cellphone?

Would you rather prefer watching your relatives on webcam than going all the way to meet them in person?

Well the list is endless, I mean net is really changing the ways and means of modern Indian society.Earlier it was the TV boom which deeply influenced the modern Indian mindset but now its internet.

Perhaps the most profound impact of this medium is the fact that slowly we are becoming a highly individualistic society and our collective social consciousness is being replaced with opinionated personal thoughts.The change is rapid and the best indicator of this growing trend is the fact that most of the chat rooms,websites ,e- groups, blogs and wikies an around the world have good no. of Indian members.

So we are going to see more no. of people spending their times on the computer doing every little thing via net.Now let us look at this trend carefully, earlier we had parents speding some time with their kids and sharing their experiences , talking about relative and their growing up days and then we had friends and relatives visiting us for weekends and on other special occasions like festivals etc.

Don't forget the visits to local library and long classroom lectures,those verbose lectures and endless exams schedules.The much awaited summer holidays and evening stroll to the markets .The window shopping spree and haggling with the vendors.

Now that's a blast from the past.

You have real shopping being replaced e shopping, your visit to your nearby library being replaced with online library.Right from appearing for your entrance exams to attending classes, your first interview is also most likely to be online and chances are you are also likely to have your first girlfriend via internet.Marriage to banking,ticket purchasing to movie watching everything is just gonna be online.

So we are going to have more online virtual contacts than the offline real world good old stupid friends.Well look around carefully are we really what we used to be.

I saw my first computer 13 years back and frankly I had no idea that this damn thing will decide our fate in the days to come.So are we going to have less human interactions.As we have offices going virtual .

Will it mean that individuals are going to be less sensitive towards others or will it be the other way round as people will transcend the barrier of class, colour, creed,nationality etc.I am sure i will have some smile and interesting thoughts when I read this post of mine 4 years from now.

This reminds me of the old Beatles song "Yesterday all my troubles seems to be far away" Oh i believe in yesterday.