So many people nowadays are connected all the time, but not me. I don't know if I want to be connected 24/7. Even my bro once said how cool WhatsApp was (he uses Android), but I was hesitating. I once downloaded WhatsApp to my mobile, but because I don't have an ongoing internet subscription for my mobile, I realized that it kept on trying to connect even though I'd turned it off, so I decided to delete it. Plus I can't possibly use my mobile during work (always put it in a locker), so what's the use of getting 24/7 internet connection for my mobile if I don't have to travel a lot for work anyway? (Because I can still use my PC to connect at home when I don't have work)
What about WhatsApp for PC? Well, first of all due to the fact that I'm not connected 24/7, I find that chatting via WhatsApp is so...fragmented. Another part of the reason is also 'coz of my random work schedule as well as time differences between me and those friends in WhatsApp. So whenever I log in online using my PC, I've found tons of messages already going back and forth between a few friends and it feels...surreal.
I mean in the past none of this could happen. I felt as though I had entered a room filled with a few friends that had stopped talking (and sometimes they've already gone entirely from that room by the time I log in), but I could still view their WHOLE conversation if I wanted to ---> This also takes a lot of time if I log in after a few hundred of messages have been recorded. And moreover, commenting on their conversation felt like "lagging behind" because it had happened already.
I do feel that way sometimes with emails. Sometimes after a summer vacation with hubby when we don't check emails regularly, when we go back home then there are tons of them to read and then I have to think of which important emails to reply to first, but it's not as bad as the feeling of being "left behind" in this kind of WhatsApp chat program. I felt confused, not knowing where to start after being "left behind". Should I start babbling about another topic altogether?
But now after trying WhatsApp for a few days, I begin to understand more why those people in Indo who use BB (Blackberry) chat or WhatsApp to chat are ALWAYS online, because it can be addictive and once you start, it's hard to stop because otherwise you'll miss SO MUCH - logging on every once in a while will only cause so many fragmented conversations. On the other hand, it bothers me to remember the annoyance I felt at being around people who are always checking their mobile and typing stuff and updating the latest photos while they're spending time with me. I also have the fear of turning into those people who have to be "connected" all the time, because when I am spending quality time with my hubby and relatives, I want to focus on them instead of cyber world. And I want them to focus on spending time with me, too.
In Indo, we have this term called "eksis" (yeah, based on the word "exist", though it doesn't really mean the same - I think it means "being active in cyber world"). Some people, if they haven't been active in some type of online group/site, consider themselves as "they don't exist". If they're so active in those groups, then they "eksis". It's kinda ironic to think of the pressure to "eksis" these days in Indo, because you DO exist even though you don't "eksis" in cyber world.
I don't know about you, though...any POV? I do like technology and as you all know, I found love through the internet, but sometimes I feel that we're going into "uncharted territories" (boy, do I feel old/old-fashioned writing these words HA HA HAAHHHH...) and I'm not talking merely about cyber world, but the advance of technology in general. I read an article the other day that the impact of this "online world" can only be researched after a decade or two (if I'm not mistaken), because the current generation (Generation Z ) has spent their entire lives surrounded by the internet.
Note: Maybe in the future I may feel differently about WhatsApp - dunno. But for the time being I just want to record this here for future reference.
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