June 27, 2009

What's your status today?

A lot is being said about the status messages seen on networking sites, esp Facebook (FB). There was even a piece based on it in one of the recent Sunday Express supplements. Is it such a big deal really?
Some people like to share their angst, anger, love or whatever random feeling it is with others, some others just wanna express themselves, some do it for fun... whatever reason be it, it's just a harmless gesture. Or is it?
The death of Michael Jackson was the content of almost all FB status messages yesterday (and even today). Every one was getting creative with their take on MJ, his music and his life. Me too. Though am no HUGE MJ fan, I did feel bad that a part of my childhood memories had ended. MJ was part of my growing up days, his music was fodder for our ears during our school days, his life and his weird acts were part of our chats. And so it may have been for many....
A friend of mine was horribly disgusted with the fact that a friend of his had chosen to refer to MJ as "that paedophile" while commenting on his death. My friend thought it was absolutely inconsiderate and insensitive to have said so, at least, not just hours after his death. Maybe he was right. MJ or whoever it may be, may hold no special place in your heart and you may not really care about him, but we could try and be polite and respectful to the person at least on the day of his death. Don't mourn the loss, but at least don't celebrate it, either. Well...one could argue that we are all entitled to 'freedom of expression'. A right we mostly prefer to misuse than use for just purposes.
Coming back to status messages... I do update my status quite often. It's not even a status, it's sometimes a thought, or an opinion, or observation, or anger at something, or a feeling, or yeah the state of mind at that moment. People can chose to comment on it, ridicule it or simply ignore it. Why make a fuss about it?
What if A is excited about the weekend, or B is missing his loved one, or C wants a kickass holiday.... What do we care... or do we?

No comments: