Evolution in Socializing

Throughout my lifetime, it was ICQ > MIRC > MSN. Meeting up online and chitchatting with a bunch of friends or new friends has becoming a norm to our social life. My group of friends was discussing about this new girl that popped out in the tuition centre and the easiest way to ‘get’ to her is via MSN method. Well, the new girl in the tuition centre thing is not the issue here but the socialization has evolved here. How often do we meet up with our friends and talk up face-to-face?

Ahh speaking for face, this whole cyber-social networking has yet evolved, does it ring any bell? Initially it was Friendster, where their user uses it as ‘a means to an end’ to meet up or find new friends from behind a monitor or LCD screen. That redefines social networking, once and for all! People are no more getting afraid to approach other people, or make new friends, make enquires or such. Well lemme put my past behind because I no longer using Friendster and I introduce Facebook! Actually the main reason I left Friendster is that users are allowed to change their profile layout and I was irritated by most of these ‘fancy’ layouts that causes me ‘seeing stars’.

My past experience with Facebook is horrid. To me, Facebook WAS full of crappy apps and I will receive tons of invitations to Disney Land! I was hoping for the real Disney Land thou. But later at times I realize the wonders of Facebook; you can tag your friends in a photo, play games with your friends and compare their scores, follow on updates on your friends, chat online and almost that is about it and everything else. Tell me if opening your browser and go to Facebook is not your first thing to do when you switch on your computer or laptop.

With the advancement in Internet access, I am referring to availability of Wi-Fi here, users can update their status, upload photos, telling their friends what are they doing currently from anywhere, anytime! This has certainly cut down the time and space involved by traditional communication mean – meeting up. People from different world’s end could be as close as several kilobytes away.

Witnessing all these ‘advancement’ in social networking, I began to imagine if one day I would celebrate my birthday with Facebook, welcome to my birthday party folks! Or maybe in future Facebook would come out with an extension called FaceMovies or something like that where friends can go to a movie screening virtually! I have not heard of anything like that before, well if you do it’s my bad for not being up-to-date. But if you haven’t, remember that you hear it here first!

People who are so into Facebook could easily get cyber-stalked. By the way I was saying this meaning that you doesn’t want it, or you want it. Whatever you are doing, wherever you go, how was your test earlier, how does the new chicken rice stall tastes, how do you find about him, Manchester United won last night; you post them up. With the enhancement of mobile Facebooking where posting was never been easier, you are giving out yourself. Alright my point here is that you may attract some unwanted friends. I’m not sure will it become a threat but, just my 2 cents…

Broadband is getting broader, indicating all features of Internet has a bigger room to grow. We used to see only plain text websites with a few pictures and now most of the websites are Flashy (Adobe Flash powered), animated with music and sounds, becoming more and more interactive. So my future insight is, things like Facebook or maybe Facebook itself will evolve into perhaps, fully-visually-integrated space that its user can customize to his/her own liking. And maybe live streaming on-the-go. And everything could just replace what’s physical.

As an IT person, I am amazed by how technology changes life. Everything comes in good and bad, so the only thing we could manage is the balance. And what do you think? Post up your piece of mind and thanks for reading and sharing =)