March 10, 2014

rsz_handsWhen I was on Facebook, I was getting to know what was happening in the lives of a lot of friends and acquaintances. I wouldn’t say I was in touch with all of them as they were just sharing updates with me and posting comments only because I was on Facebook. It wasn’t like most of them really cared about staying in touch with me and I would have been hell-banned like I am now as I am out of Facebook.

A lot of my friends whom I try to be in touch with, still share their updates only on Facebook and often I end up having to ask them offline to share stuff with me like the pictures of their wedding, trip photos and etc. But this doesn’t bother me at all as I still know how to get hold of them.

These days I am asked often, “Are you on WhatsApp? Why not? It’s cool and the happening thing right now. You’re missing out on a lot of fun. So and so is on WhatsApp and we all had a fun group chat”. Really? Do I really have to bother myself into signing up for yet another messaging/communication platform just to stay in touch with most people who don’t care? Do you people keep talking with everyone on your contact list on the next happening messenger app? I guess not. With Facebook now acquiring WhatsApp, I wouldn’t think of going anywhere near it. I am content to be using just my Gmail account to communicate via chat and email with people and it suits me just fine. I am sure that if you really care about me, you won’t mind taking that extra bit of effort to get in touch with me and I will be glad about that.

These days, the rate at which the “happening things” happen is getting ridiculous to say the least. I don’t want to bother about getting myself into each of those glorified silos that lock-in and keep out people not inside it. A popular saying on the internet goes “When something is given to you for free, you are the product being sold” but nowadays it has become “Even when you pay and buy something, you are the product being sold”. Why should I sell myself just to keep getting spam from people whom I don’t care about? Those whom I care about and vice-versa, I am already in touch. Wanna get in touch with me, contact me wherever I am on the internet – my blog, Gmail, Twitter, Identi.ca, Diaspora and so on. Even a quick Google search on my name will be of help in finding ways to contact me.

Looking forward to getting in touch with a lot more people who care. 🙂

Update (17 Nov 2014) – I have succumbed to the pressure from friends and relatives and agreed to try out WhatsApp for a few months since it is the only way to reach most of them easily.