A family friend of mine posed this interesting question on Facebook this afternoon. He wondered if all the updating/following on facebook, twitter, blogs, Orkut, SMSs, Blackberry, Feeds, Linkedin, personal emails, subscriptions etc. is it making life better or puts pressure?

My initial response was that “All the social networking platforms have just one goal, add users, increase traffic, generate more advertising and sales opportunities….while keeping people in touch…how much we interact with it, is purely in our control….”

However, when I really think about it, I do realize that a certain “pressure” does exists. There is a social trend amongst tech savvy people, to expect that you’re on Facebook or Twittering, writing blogs etc. When you don’t you realize that people are indeed connecting with each others, though virtually, but still connecting, be it actively or passively and soon, more and more people join the group, and after a while it becomes too overwhelming.

I guess, it depends on the individual. I’m not a very social person, in contrast to my wife. I have 81 friends on Facebook. Most are my immediate family or extended family, friends from all different times, school, college and some colleague’s. There are a handful of people i stay in touch with over the phone or email on a daily or weekly basis. For the rest, i’m aware of what’s happening in their respective lives, through Facebook status updates or posts. How convenient!

Now for the pressure, i dont feel compelled to check other’s status or post mine. I do when I get time to do so. Having the Facebook , Twitter apps on iPhone helps too. To conclude i can say that all the social networking sites does provide helpful service for users, though their could be some who are addicted to it! For now, I’m not one of them.