Thursday 8 August 2013

Total conversion


Not too long ago, I was adamant that I would not join Facebook and other such sites, and cited fear of loss of privacy as the reason. A little less long ago, Shefali, a reader of my blog who used to comment sympathetically on many of my posts, convinced me that the best way to get the message across was facebook + blog. She helped create an account for me and got me started, and it has not taken me long to discover that Shefali knew what she was talking about.

Here are few reasons for my complete turnaround from anti-fb to pro-fb:

  1. The recent (Snowden-related) furore in the US has convinced me that any fond imaginings of `one's privacy' are delusions of one who does not notice how all such privacy evaporated with the onset of personal computers and mobile phones. Within seconds, people can – if they so desire - pinpoint where you are and what you are doing!

  1. Recently, a friend of mine `shared' a post in my blog on facebook, and on the next day my blog probably saw the highest number of `hits' ever.

  1. Today I received an email saying You shared your email with Sustainable Mobility and they've suggested you like their page on Facebook; and I most certainly do. (The organisation Samarthyam (see https://www.facebook.com/samarthyamindia) who is behind this `Sustainable Mobility' was one of the first organisations I learnt of who was seriously into making the environment accessible and barrier-free; and they are clearly still doing a great job. Hats off, Anjlee!)

And this is not the first time I have been put in touch with, or got to hear of, attempts being made in the same direction as that of my blog and related efforts.

So, thank you Shefali for doing me this favour. (Incidentally, Shefali herself does fantastic work with an organisation called Aarushi; the reader who has never heard of it would be well-advised look up Aarushi on the internet! (S)he has a heart-warming treat in store.)

8 comments:

  1. Such a pleasant surprise! Thanks so much for this :) I'm so glad more people are listening to you. best,

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    1. Au contraire: the thanks are due to you, Shefali!

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    2. Ms. Mehta, heartfelt thanks from this end too!

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    4. I'm afraid I mis-spelt the organisation of Shefali Tripathi Mehta. It is called Arushi (with one and not two `a's. By the way, Google will take you where you want if you ask for `Arushi in Bhopal'.

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    5. _/\_ Obliged to you both. Thank you :)

      I am a volunteer at Arushi.

      You can join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Arushi/136150893093757

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  2. Sunder, I think FB is great. And indeed it is good to know that sharing a blog-post on FB increases hits. I am off FB for a while, but when I do get back, I will certainly share.

    Strange thing about FB so far -- I found the more active I was in life, the more I was logging on to FB. But the relation does not hold forever. And I found recently that it was dragging me down. I have opinions, I get into long contentious discussions, and get upset that someone could possibly hold "that dastardly view" :). I needed a little space to concentrate on my mathematics, and I find I have a little more equanimity.

    That said, FB is great. I didn't know so many of my friends shared the views I hold dear. It gave me a sense of solidarity. A secular, just, world which tries to even the field for the children of the disadvantaged and of the weak - is what I want. And at one point, frankly, I thought I was alone with these thoughts, modulo a few close friends. To find like-minded people in all walks of life was heartening. On the flip side -- it was very disheartening to see so many with diametrically opposite views.

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