Time-honoured channel of reaching the literati with information they seek and desire that the world knows as media, particularly dailies seems to have donned a new avatar, that is also familiar to a growing number of people embracing digital technology as social media. Chip-based devices are taking birth with versatile features being embedded in them at such a rapid pace that virtually makes the electronic goods of today seem obsolete next day. The ubiquitous hand-held mobile telephone, better described as smart phone has triggered the enormous spread of social media, youth around the world, including India, being its most conspicuous patrons, even as the rest of the population, not to forget senior members of society at large, feeling helpless as digital-illiterates. Conventional media owes in no small measure its survival to this gradually shrinking population. Even desktop computers and laptops seem to have been robbed of their space in time, given the long hours in a day witnessing the teens stuck to their hand-held smart phone. There are no laws yet for the country’s administration to regulate the content of social media, particularly the many objectionable matter, being discussed in various circles.
One of the fallouts of the present generation’s teens being engaged for the best part of the day communicating among themselves, according to a recent study by researchers, has emerged as disordered eating. One cannot be faulted to remark that this fallout doesn’t earn credit to digital technology and also to the inventors of devices such as the smart phone. The analogy is that the sharp knife also hurts when not used carefully.
