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It is all in your face
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Facebook has blurred the divisions between the real and the make-believe
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He thanks me for the apple martini and insists that we “do Scrabble again sometime”. He rummages through my bookshelf and leaves after making a smart aleck comment on my taste in books. If it doesn’t surprise you that we aren’
t even in the same time zone, you’re probably an old hand at Facebook.
Thanks to this larger than life social networking website that’s gained cult status in recent years, the lines between real and make-believe have blurred and, in some cases, vanished altogether. A haven for the socially awkward, Facebook lets users hit on, serenade, dance with or propose to people without the complications of face-to-face interaction. The site makes it redundant for people to be online at the same time to play a game or have a conversation. Time and distance be damned, you always know what everyone else is doing. By clicking on the wall-to-wall link, users can read entire conversations between friends.It’s always the season for gifting at Facebook. And here, it’s (literally) the thought that counts. Free Gift applications allow you to give friends virtual champagne flutes, mittens, bouquets and lava lamps. Applications like ‘Growing Gifts’ encourage users to gift more by ‘unlocking’ fresh gifts as a reward every time a new gifting milestone is reached.
For all its wonderful qualities, Facebook has an unmistakable ‘Hotel California’ vibe to it. It’s highly unlikely that you log in to ‘poke’ someone and log out immediately. A list of requests on the right side of your screen will draw you in.
You’ll find that your college roommate is desperate to know whether you can beat her score in the ‘Celebrities without Make-Up’ quiz, your cousin is asking you which dessert you are (he’s a lemon meringue pie: rich, sharp with an incisive edge), your boss has described you in five words (it’s only fair to return the favour) and you’re covered in French fries, tomato sauce and vinegar (no, your best friend isn’t getting away with that).
If you find your fingers glued to the mouse, your eyes red from exhaustion and that deadlines have come and gone, welcome to the club. Reality just got less interesting.
SRIYA NARAYANAN
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Puducherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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