Internet has become our lifeline, but should be depend on it todally?
Sukriti Tankha
‘Hi!! I’m Sara. I’m 13 and study in class 8th in Ryan International. What? Oh, my hobbies? My hobbies include watching videos on YouTube, chatting with friends on Facebook and updating my twitter status every one hour.’
No, no! This is not something I have made up on my own. This is how my sister Sara introduced herself in front of my friends. After hearing her, we all started laughing. It was after a minute we realised that she was serious. It was then that it dawned upon me how important a part internet plays in our lives.
We are living in a world in which internet is the most vital thing. We use internet so often that we forget generations before us survived without it. If you ask somebody in their 40s or 50s ‘what is important for living?’ they would say ‘oxygen’. But if you ask a teenager the same question, they would probably say ‘internet’. That is the impact that internet has made. It has become a part of our existence. We often forget that we have our own existence. We forget that we are not just identified by the most expensive laptop or mobile, but we are identified by the character, the personality that we possess. It is not necessary that the person who has the latest iPhone has the biggest heart.
It is true that internet has helped in bringing people closer – I can talk to my brother living in America just by telling him to come on Skype, and that too free of cost. But on the other hand it is also true that people are now confined to themselves. Everybody is happy in their own space. There was a time when everybody was scared to be alone – what would they do without people on their sides? And now everybody WANTS to be alone. With their mobiles, of course. There was a time when people were praised for their ‘good looks’.
And now people are praised for the ‘good editing’ that they do on their “DPs” on various social networking sites. There was also a time when people had less ‘real friends’ and more trust. And now people have more ‘online friends’ and less trust. You are not popular if you have come first in class or maybe in a race. You are popular if your post has more likes and you have the maximum number of online friends. I am not denying the fact that internet has made access to information much easier and has helped us in a thousand ways, but it has also made us too much dependent. We are provided with information on any topic, which is a great advantage, but at the same time, it is also a great disadvantage.
I am not totally against internet or its use, but it should be used till the point where we are not neglecting our lives and the people important in it. Lastly, I want to conclude my article by saying a quote-
‘Google can bring you back 1,00,000 answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.’
