What will happen to our digital
identities after we pass away? An uncomfortable inarticulate silence answers
this question aptly. Multiple Email IDs, Facebook profile, Instagram, Twitter,
websites, blogs and million other individually password protected part
identities that we create for expressing ourselves and to communicate with
fellow digital Homo sapiens; what is their fate? Half a century later, there
will be millions of dead profiles on Facebook. Imagine tumbling on a super hot
guy/ babe and sending a friend request, only to find his/her wall posts that
say Rest in Peace. How creepy is that?! Oh how many old people’s profiles will
be up there! Because, mate, we will all be old and still posting our ramblings up
there! The Digital Age and its downsides! I wish we arrive at a point where not
having a digital identity becomes the new “cool”. We are all sharing parts of us to be thieved,
misused and intruded. Yes, there are umpteen advantages of them as well. They
have definitely made our lives easier; but at the cost of what? Reduced life
span, reduced brain usage and a million new diseases, especially ergonomic
ones. Are they all worth our health, relationships and time?
I say, bring back the nineties. The
chivalry. Courtship. Coffee dates. Occasional Rave. Throwing-the-head-in-the-air
laughter instead of “haha” with a straight face. Old school thoughts. We are a
repressed product of a buffer generation. We live in the delusion that we got
the best of both worlds. But the reality is, we grew up only to discover that
the nineties are well past us and we get called old school if we preferred
coffee dates and text messages over Facetime. And then, drastically, one day we
wake up to Nokia 1100. It did feel totally harmless. A telephone we can carry.
We need not be home waiting for a trunk call anymore. Oh how handy! How
portable! How magical! Before we knew it, smart phones walked in unannounced! Then
frequent updates to make things “upgraded” for us. Services upon services! The
world shrank. But the people didn’t come any closer. From food to camisole,
everything arrives at our doorstep. Simultaneously, we didn’t have to meet him
face to face to say ‘it’s over’. We can break his heart over a text, not even a
voice call. How convenient yet how satanic! How easy it is to cheat on her!
Just carry two phones with two different digital identities. You didn’t meet
her. You didn’t touch her. Hence, technically you did not outrage her modesty.
Yet you have the power within a few taps of your thumb tip reach, to hurt
multiple people immensely. Oh that was just a casual chat, you see. No
commitment! Words don’t have the same weight anymore. They have degraded to
just inklessly typed alphabets. ‘Men of words’ and ‘Women of words’ are
exponentially inching towards extinction. Promises don’t have the same gravity anymore.
Broken vows are met with an emotionlessly typed, damage-control sorry. What are we heading towards? Are we making
digital creations or are the digital innovations making/ altering us?! What
will become of us two decades from now? Only our digital images will remain.
Our originality and individuality will be lost in the mindless decisions of our
finger tips. We will be a generation that will be unable to hold a decent face
to face conversation without the aid of Google or YouTube. How sorry does that
sound?
I “type” this statement
distressingly. I just wish we meet with graceful valetudinarianism instead of
digital incapacitation.
Xoxo,
Old soul.
