I was in Limbang when my mobile phone rang. “Mark, I need the report urgently. Could you please send the report to me now?” said my superior from Sarikei. When she said ‘send’, of course she meant via email and not by post. In a matter of minutes, the report was sent. Thanks to the Internet
Back in the 90s, when I first studied computer science, we had neither Facebook nor Friendster. One of the most popular applications at that time was IRC or Internet Relay Chat. It was a chat software, which I think many of us used before the existence of portals or social networking sites.
For the past few weeks, there have been rumours that the biggest social networking site, Facebook, intends to shutdown next month. This seems to have sparked a wave of panic among friends and family, who are hardcore Facebook users. I was asked whether the rumour is true.
Of course it is not true! It was only a hoax. Why should a multimillion dollar company shutdown just because the inventor is feeling stressed? He has hundreds of people that can run the company for him, while he enjoys his pina colada in the Bahamas.
Now, the question that I would like to ask readers is: what if Facebook really decides to close down and other social networking sites are banned? Where would we go from there? What were our activities before the existence of these sites? What if the Internet never existed? Will we miss our 846 so-called ‘friends’?
People nowadays are getting more and more attached to technology, particularly Internet services.
Service providers and mobile phone producers are designing their products and services based on an ever-growing number of Internet applications. CEOs, young and old, are using smart phones so they can check their emails.
Managers are carrying tablets to meetings as a substitute for laptops as they are lighter and more compact.
But, how much more productive are we with the use of these technologies in our everyday lives? Are these tools or merely fads that will be replaced by other innovations in the next two to three years?
Imagine piles of letters and mail on your table because there is no email. Imagine expensive telephone bills because there are no messaging applications such as Skype or Messenger. Or imagine spending thousands to invest on racks and cabinets to store files because there is no digital storage and servers.
Recently, a group of students from West Henderson High in the United States did a study by spending seven days unplugging themselves from technology and modern conveniences — no MP3 players, laptops or even mobile phones.
The main idea was to get people to think about how much they use and rely on technology.
The result? Out of 20, only two managed to avoid using all the gadgets. Most of them had a hard time with this experiment modelled after the famous Henry David Thoreau’s attempt to strip down on luxuries and live a simple life with radically reduced conditions.
People find it hard to detach themselves from using tools such as the mobile phone because everyone else is using it. The same goes for having email, websites or even social networking accounts. The Internet has evolved over the years from being an information database to a powerful communication and marketing tool. Billions of dollars are transacted annually online.
Yet, having all these technologies could prevent us from being productive. We often hear: “No electricity in the office, how to work?” or “No Internet, cannot find the contact number.” Ridiculous as it may sound, but that is the sad reality. The culture of ‘copy and paste’ shows a lack of original ideas and critical thinking skills.
Messaging via SMS has also replaced the need to communicate orally and the constant use of abbreviated terms via SMS has also infiltrated our writing.
Social networking, particularly Facebook, is seen as a whole new kind of addiction, a new-found ‘land of unlimited resources’ for businesses and organisations, or even a place for people to express their feelings to one another.
It is an innovative all-in-one application that suits the needs of both the social and professional world.
But due to an obsessive dependence on services offered by social networking sites, people are being deprived of sufficient face-to-face interactions.
People meet online most of the time and not in real life. Weaknesses in communication skills are visible during interviews or in the office. Even though it is not an alarming situation, the issue of soft skills still needs to be tackled.
Whatever it is, technology has its own pros and cons.
Being overly dependent on technology perhaps has made us fail to maximise the use of our brains and capabilities.
Hardware and software should be our ‘hands and legs’, and not our brains. They should be used as additional tools to help and support us in achieving our goals.
The Facebook shutdown hoax serves as a good reminder to us that it’s best that we learn to balance ‘real’ life with our ‘second life’ (online).