Before Facebook

What we used to do before Facebook??? This question made me think for a while…. It felt as if it’s so integral part of our life that we can’t get a proper answer or remember what we actually used to do! It triggered another teaser in my brain; when did I started using Facebook?? And the answer is in 8^th standard class, secondary section. Well I might get the exact date and month too if I check it on Facebook timeline, but I would go with this.

I remember when I was in 7^th standard class, primary schooling last year, I had received an e-mail from my classmate, requesting me to join Facebook! Well as a matter of fact this we are talking about the year 2007, when kids usually were not much into internet and emails or stuff, there were very few who did cared for same. The reason being very few families were into having personal computer at home. Many found it useless to have, as it was thought to be only for office purpose. Kids who had parents like mine , who were interested in educating their kids how important the revolutionary computer is  and  were affording for the machine got it at home.

So, I remember when I got computer at home , maybe in 2005/20006 , I had made a yahoo account through which I had signed up an orkut account. Yeahh it was then orkut time just like Facebook is at present time. I remember I had made a fake account just to see what’s in there in the social networking site which was a boom at that time.  I was warned though not to upload pics or write any personal details, that’s another reason for having made a fake profile.

Even though I had received the fb request, I joined it a year late when my best chum also wanted to explore the virtual world and got an email account made in 2008, having got a computer not at home but at her daddy’s office. So before Facebook though we were part of social networking sites, it was not such a big deal as its now when people need to keep timeline interesting and want maximum likes.

 On February 4, 2004, Zuckerberg launched "The Facebook” with his college roommates and fellow Harvard University students Eduardo Savarin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. The founders had initially limited the website's membership to students of the University of Harvard, but later expanded it to colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. It gradually added support for students at various other universities before it opened to high-school students, and eventually to anyone aged 13 and over. Facebook now allows anyone who claims to be at least 13 years old to become a registered user of the website.

So after 4 years of launching Facebook I had joined the so hyped social networking site. But before that... life was simple, I got to accept. Before fb, I can say people were busy in their simple and smooth life. Kids were seen online at playgrounds, people were busy in some hand on work, and nobody was poking or stalking your profile. Respect was given from heart not from 1 like = 1 respect: P pictures were clicked for memory not for maximum likes. Due to Facebook people have become self-obsessed and keep on editing and clicking pics from different angels. And the latest one, SELFIE, using front camera and giving weird looks, duck face or pout or whatever.

The innocence, the face to face chats got limited or just got vanished after fb got hit among people. It was surveyed that maximum users are of 13-18 yrs. of age and 18-27 yrs. aged. Though nowadays you can find people in mid-forties and fifties trying their hands on fb and spending their post retirement time. Facebook has become so user friendly that even labor class people are able to access and operate it through their cell phones. Many have found back their childhood friends via fb (my dad is one of them).

So before Facebook… it was orkut, people were not glued to their cell phones or computers/laptop checking out notifications or stalking their crush’s profile. Life was face to face, real, not virtual.

Vitasta