Monday, September 26, 2011

E-Gossip

Apart from the pan-galla, McDonalds and the kitty parties, there is a new breed of interesting hang-outs cropping up on the scene: A connector's facebook wall!

I would like to call upon the evolution tree of the gossip places:

(Caves-by-the-seaside) -> Under the Banyan Tree beside the pond -> Besides the water-pump, around the fireplace -> The galla -> The connector's Facebook Wall -> (in the queue for all-day-nutrition-pills! )


All these places, except the wall, are places where humans have been coming in contact with each other. Where the body language, the eye contact, the breathing pattern, the delivery of the joke mattered! All these factors, even though not articulated and spoken openly, are parameters that the unconscious takes into account. Imagine, if 'wtf' was sung in a Bbollywood tune! This is what i mean by the delivery of the joke! An alteration or inconsistency in any of the factors will ruin the essence of the joke and hence the gossip.

Now-a-days, the jesters have a new medium! The web. There are hangouts on google plus, skype and facebook. There are ways to express, crack jokes other than being physically present. A new breed of jesters are coming up, who are very smart on the web. They were non-existent before. These people can create comedy with smart comments and quick wit! But, the body language, the eye contact, the breathing pattern were an obstacle to them. The web has eradicated those obstacles. A new branch in the gossip evolution tree: geeks are the new jesters! Because in reality, the geeks were always more smart than the rest, just that they were lousy with body language. But now, with the home-ground advantage, they rule the roost! ( To all the hunks: ladies love humour! so, learn to be witty on your comments on Facebook)

The point of the blog is now, that when gossip happens on the Facebook walls or in comments on pictures, there is one thing different. In the olden days, the delivery was the jester's! Now, the delivery is the readers. When I read a comment, I read it in my breathing pattern, according to my mood and in my own-funny-style and not the comment-posters. You see, unless you know the jester personally, there is a high chance you are not going to get the gist of the joke. Of course, there are punctuation marks, emoticons invented. But ask the Jester, do those work as efficient as the drop-in-tone? Now, if a person i know to be witty posts something, and my unconscious tells me this is something funny, then I set the frame-work to his while reading the comment. I will then read the post in my mind as if he/she was delivering it. But, otherwise, its still mine!

Unknowingly, we are all victims of this. Not only on the internet. Couples breaking up over sms. heated discussions on email. All of these won't help people! Its simple, because there is a disconnect between your bodies and the signs. An audio connection is still better, but not nearly as good as body language!

People, understand the importance on meeting up! Its much more fun!


Yours Gossipingly,
Dunce


ps: besides, the display pic on the top right corner is not as good as
when your girlfriend is sitting right next to you! :P