It is important for people here to realise that we should be thinking beyond our own narrow frame of mind.
LAHORE: A few weeks back, I was shuffling through the TV channels and some street show grabbed my attention. The anchor was asking people about their views on the implications of Facebook use on our culture and values. The respondent was of the opinion that Facebook should be banned as it is ‘misleading our youth’.
The innovative tools this century — used for monitoring and connecting — include social networking websites (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and all of them have proven to be effective and efficient means of communication. It is important for people here to realise that we should be thinking beyond our own narrow frame of mind. In the past few years, the use of Facebook in Pakistan (for connecting with family, friends and dates, etc.) has matured as people have learnt how to make the most of it. People are now much more aware of the uses of this network: for political campaigning, private sector marketing, exchanging ideas, intellectual discussions on different perspectives and opinions, sharing data, sharing current affair news, promotion of consumer products, connecting with the larger community around the globe, garnering attention for social issues, so on and so forth. In short, some people are doing incredible work with the help of websites like Facebook and even YouTube.
Maybe, it’s just that we haven’t grown up, as a nation, with the ability to make better use of such opportunities and technologies that are available to everybody else?
Ayesha Rao
Published in The Express Tribune, September 13th, 2013.
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