Recently it was a friend's birthday. When my mother asked me, if I were to visit her, I assured her that I had already messaged her the birthday wishes at midnight. She laughed it off saying, "I am so glad this social media didn't exist back when I was young! Otherwise, all the happiness on your first birthday would have come through your 'SMS's' rather than those warm hugs and kisses." For a change, a part of me agreed to mother's ideology.

READ MORE: A Helping Hand for the Depressed and Lonely

No one is unaware of the fact that social networking was created to make people connect faster, better, and on a larger platform. But what happened was, we grew faster and better but lost all the connect. In the era of social networking, Relationships have been more 'reel' than 'real'. The acquaintance with a person is loosely based on the so-called 'chatting' sessions. We've started building our own perception of the world through the Internet. Until, few years, Google was asked questions regarding general knowledge; but today, it is Google that is defining our world for us! Social networking has spread faster than the speed of the light. Don't remember a friend? Ask Internet. Want to know how a place would be? Ask Internet. What are the best qualities to have? Ask Internet. I wonder if by mistakenly we happened to ask "How to be real", the Internet would laugh out loud saying "Not found" 

With the persistent interference of social networking sites in our lives, it is more or less common to be unhappy with one's life! We know lives less through interactions and more through their image portrayal on the Internet. What someone looks like, their virtues, what they eat, what they love, was once upon a time a discussion cherished over a cup of tea. Virtues were not read but inherited from parents. Companionship was not estimated but felt over one another's presence. Friendships were not about tagging each other, but tagging along with each other. We have become so busy getting a life, that we have forgotten how to live one! 

Everybody wants to be heard, but not through blue ticks on WhatsApp. We all love our share of appreciation, but not through a thumbs up emoticon on a social networking site. You deserve more. I deserve more. We all deserve more 'real' a life! After all, humans created technology, not vice versa.