The social butterfly
9 July 2014 10:01 PM GMT
The arrangement of the conference table at the Indian Habitat Centre spoke a lot about the discussion that was about to happen. Usually, the panellists sit on one side while the listeners on the other. On Tuesday, the panellists were scattered around among the listeners, who eventually became prosumers – producers as well as consumers.
That, is exactly how social media and the millennial population work now a days. While the young are intensely and determinedly individual in the way they obtain and use information, make choices and reach opinions. They are, simultaneously, the most collective generation on earth, sharing everything from activities to opinions and constantly seek endorsement for the same through social networking sites.Â
Titan Company’s Paradox Panel comprising of Bino Paul - Professor and Chairperson, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Kaustav Sengupta - Associate Professor at National Institute of Fashion Technology and Sam Ahmed, Film Director discussed at length the phenomena of social media and its vast usage. The generation today has shifted from seeking advice from parents and friends to gaining knowledge and ideas from complete strangers who, according to them, are authorities on that specific topic. They go on trips to post pictures on Facebook. Do unique things to tweet about them. And amazingly, all of them are doing something differently to converge on the same platform! This raises questions on the generation. Is this a generation that’s completely superficial and does stuff to impress others? Or is the most intelligent and creative generation that knows something about everything! There surely is an overflow of information today.
Google has made everything available at a click. But what happens when Internet and technologies are taken away. That’s a question that one does not get an answer to. We surely are a generation of Jack of all trades. We love being dynamic and versatile. 9-5 is not our thing. We want to be independent. Fiercely! We are all entrepreneurs. But if we get down to looking at it closely, the social media has actually made us less social. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Well, until a selfie is clicked and posted and liked, the trip isn’t complete. Beyond everything, we are a generation that wishes and hopes to bring about a change. The question is, will tweeting every hour bring this change or looking beyond the laptop screen would. The discussion was enlightening for all. Discussions like this must keep happening. We applaud he initiative.
That, is exactly how social media and the millennial population work now a days. While the young are intensely and determinedly individual in the way they obtain and use information, make choices and reach opinions. They are, simultaneously, the most collective generation on earth, sharing everything from activities to opinions and constantly seek endorsement for the same through social networking sites.Â
Titan Company’s Paradox Panel comprising of Bino Paul - Professor and Chairperson, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Kaustav Sengupta - Associate Professor at National Institute of Fashion Technology and Sam Ahmed, Film Director discussed at length the phenomena of social media and its vast usage. The generation today has shifted from seeking advice from parents and friends to gaining knowledge and ideas from complete strangers who, according to them, are authorities on that specific topic. They go on trips to post pictures on Facebook. Do unique things to tweet about them. And amazingly, all of them are doing something differently to converge on the same platform! This raises questions on the generation. Is this a generation that’s completely superficial and does stuff to impress others? Or is the most intelligent and creative generation that knows something about everything! There surely is an overflow of information today.
Google has made everything available at a click. But what happens when Internet and technologies are taken away. That’s a question that one does not get an answer to. We surely are a generation of Jack of all trades. We love being dynamic and versatile. 9-5 is not our thing. We want to be independent. Fiercely! We are all entrepreneurs. But if we get down to looking at it closely, the social media has actually made us less social. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Well, until a selfie is clicked and posted and liked, the trip isn’t complete. Beyond everything, we are a generation that wishes and hopes to bring about a change. The question is, will tweeting every hour bring this change or looking beyond the laptop screen would. The discussion was enlightening for all. Discussions like this must keep happening. We applaud he initiative.
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