Social Networking Sites Leading To Identity Crisis!

Internet and social networking sites have definitely made life simpler, no doubt about that, but even with such technological advances,  we need to get a life. A random geek’s routine is something like- Wake up, start the computer, login, check mails and notifications, eat food, put up another depressing status update, wait for notifications to pour, keep checking at regular intervals for new notifications, eat, sleep. See,  life revolves around internet and not in a good way.

A leading scientist has pointed out that social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have produced a generation obsessed with themselves, who have got short attention spans and a childish want for ceaseless feedback on their lives. Baroness Greenfield, professor of pharmacology at Oxford University, thinks that the growth of Internet “friendships”, as well as greater application of computer games, could “rewire” the brain in an effective manner.  This can result in decreased level of concentration, a need for instant satisfaction and poor non-verbal skills, such as the ability to make eye contact during conversations.

“What concerns me is the banality of so much that goes out on Twitter,” said Baroness Greenfield, former director of research body the Royal Institution. “Why should someone be interested in what someone else has had for breakfast? It reminds me of a small child (saying): “Look at me Mummy, I”m doing this”, “Look at me Mummy I”m doing that. It’s almost as if they’re in some kind of identity crisis. In a sense it’s keeping the brain in a sort of time warp,” Greenfield added. The academic suggested that some Facebook users feel the need to become “mini celebrities” who are watched and admired by others on a daily basis. They do things that are “Facebook worthy” because the only way they can define themselves is by “people knowing about them. It”s almost as if people are living in a world that”s not a real world, but a world where what counts is what people think of you or (if they) can click on you,” she added.