Meeting "real" people

Social media has permeated into every fabric of our life, so much so that today the way we communicate or even socialize is dictated by social media. People have become so addicted to the likes of Facebook and Whatsapp that its quite a common sight nowadays to see family members, who have come out for a dinner to talk and chat, are all spending time on their mobile screens. Such is the need to constantly “update” that it has become an obsession.

And in this background, when the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg says that his 2017 resolution is to meet more real people, it kind of punches one somewhere in the heart. In 2015, his resolution was to read 25 books and in 2016, to run 365 miles. This year, he wants to meet people in real life and that means visiting and meeting people in every state of US by end of 2017. He wants to get out and talk to them about how they’re living, working and thinking about the future.

So while the CEO of the largest social network of India, aims to connect the world while he gets out meting real people in real life, we cannot help but wonder whether Facebook is really connecting people or is it merely about getting more likes. Maybe people should emulate what Zuckerberg does and get their heads out of their screens and actually “talk” and “converse” with real people.