I completed 400 posts in this blog! I have been writing on this blog for 5 years now. Hmm... nice to know I dont get bored of at least blogging...

A newspaper article recently wrote that people who frequent facebook suffer from low self esteem.... I have always maintained that facebook is an outlet for many people... many of them are deprived of a means to show their friends and relatives their life - mostly to show their relatives the good things in their lives...... it is their way of announcing that they are upto something spectacular in life....

And I dont fault them either.....every single human being requires affirmation from other... be it about their life choices, life, lifestlye, their talents etc..... for instance this blog is my way of announcing to the world what I am upto... ofcourse the fact that only a handful of people find it interesting or even read it is no deterrent to me..... I remember when I had clicked a picture of me shaking hands with the President of India I sent it to my cousins in South Africa! In hindsight my cousins really didnt care and probably I need not have bothered but at that time sending them the picture was my way of seeking an affirmation from my relatives....

So I find facebook to be an extension of that... but there are some curious behaviours exhibited on facebook which amuses me sometimes...

There is the case of the fellow who went to a foreign country... now I know that the person went to the foreign country and didnt do anything but stay inside and work.... and the fellow had put up pictures of the city as shot from his hotel room! The fellow was that desperate to announce to the world that he was travelling abroad on work....

Then there is the case of the homemaker.... who constantly changes the status to keep saying that her life is blessed...or words to the effect that she cant believe how lucky she is... at first reading it warms you up.... but then when you see it again and again and again you wonder - is she sending out a message? Does she really want people to acknowledge her luck in public? And then the question that begs to be answered - if you feel so lucky indeed, then why do you need to tell people about it?

Then there is the case of the person who adds friends at the drop of a hat.... just so that they are considered to be really popular.... I know a couple where the husband was so jealous of the wife of the number of friends his wife had he would just go about adding anyone to his list... I am not sure whether he succeeded in matching up to her... but facebook is somewhat of an exhibit of your popularity....

I am probably equally at fault many times... and I am more at fault because I quietly observe rather than participate... which looks a bit sneaky at times...

But overall facebook is helpful... to keep in touch with people you dont want to lose touch with me but dont want to actively be in touch with either....