Logged in or Locked on????

The Internet. Started way back in the early 90’s by some college students, this rightly called ‘net’ has captured many a fishes in the pond. The internet is a world. A world full of dreams, aspirations, etc. Like every other thing it has its pros and cons. Can’t find the meaning of a word? Google it. Have a band and want the world to hear your songs upload them to any of the numerous websites that have cropped up over the years. Are you a wanna be chef? Go to any of the cookery sites and learn. Internet has connected us to the farthest corners of the world.

Now I ask you, how many hours do you sit on the net daily? Answer truthfully. Oh half an hour here and there you might say. Now do some maths. Quick. Voila! Minimum 2 hours. Harmless you say? For 2 hours you are in the front of the screen your eyes on god knows what, hands on the key board. What are you doing? Chatting? With whom? Your next door neighbour? Walk down a few steps, you lazy idiot! Call if necessary. No! I’m not exaggerating. People do that. They rather chat than talk.

Take the case of my home. Whenever my sisters come they hold the monopoly of the computer. Every time I see them they are on the net. Chatting, mailing, doing god knows what else. One day I discovered my sister chatting with a friend who lived a stone throws away. The language? Don’t even ask! TC? Take care in their ‘lingo’ (that’s too short for ________). Looks to me short for Turbo C. GTG? Gotta go. Murderers that’s what they are of English language.

Back to the net. Make this small experiment. Start a stopwatch whenever you sit on the net. At the end of the month sum up. I guarantee you shall be amazed at the amount of time you sit on the net!

Emergence of new services like blogs, online video sharing, etc. has just worsened the situation. Looks like everyone out there owns a blog. Everyone wants his thoughts read, analyzed, commented upon. Success of a few has kindled the flame in many. Now everyone is a director. Go to any of the video sharing sites like YouTube and you shall be amazed at the sheer amount of content on these sites.

E-mail, IM, etc. have helped us no doubt but at what cost? At the cost of addiction. A whole new range of diseases have cropped up. Checking your mailbox everyother minute to see if any new message has come, as if the whole country depended upon you, has now become a recognized form of compulsive disorder.

Make sure that when you are logged in you are not locked in out there in a virtual world!