THE AGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Y2K. THE SUN ROSE ON A NEW MILLENNIUM AND THE WORLD HEAVED A COLLECTIVE SIGH OF RELIEF AT NOT BEING DECIMATED BY A COMPUTER BUG.

- PRIYA MIRCHANDANI

Neo stepped out of The Matrix, into “a world without rules and controls, without borders and boundaries. A world where anything is possible.” It was the birth of a new dawn, also perhaps a new don. Twenty years on, Neo is probably languishing in an old age home in Palo Alto, while the Machines have grown not just stronger but smarter, more astute, almost sentient. They allow us to believe that we hold the master controls, as they watch us descend into the chaos of our own making. Sorry, got a little carried away there. Or did I?

Let’s table some facts: a digital tool built to help us track and reconnect with school and college buddies, grew and morphed before our very own eyes, into the biggest, most powerful living thing on the planet. Yes, it breathes binary code and gigabytes instead of 02, but still. And it has spawned a burgeoning family of spin-offs, with different personalities and traits. It’s omnipresent, lives in every home and in almost every pocket across the corners of the earth. It’s omnipotent, revered by all, from the Pope to POTUS. And omniscient, brimming with information on everything and everyone. Almost errr …God(father)like? All hail the social media family – Facebook, FB Messenger, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, WhatsApp, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and cousins Skype, Google+, TikTok, and Tumblr. This powerful mob has changed not just the way we communicate and interact with each other, but the way we do business, the way we are governed, the way we live in society.