BEHIND THE MASK *Internet Life ≠ Real Life*

I made this observation not so long time ago. There’s the real life, then there is the internet life. Maybe I should do a brief definition of what I actually mean by those two types of life to be exact. So that at least we can be on the same page.

Real Life – Who you really are, when socializing with real people who you can see, that you have probably met and know how they are.

Internet Life – Who you are when behind your computer typing away on the keyboard, when typing the key pad of your phone, when no one else can see you, when no one knows who you are, when you act out the kind of person you would want to be in the real life but can’t be – The person behind the Mask.

The reason I even decided to write about this is because… actually let me first ask two questions?

1. Have you ever met someone who is your internet friend? You chat with them, you have seen their pictures and all. And you decide to do a meet up?
2. What was the result of the meet up?

• Were you excited and happy?
• Were you surprised and perplexed?
• Did you feel like you were short-changed because the person you met ≠ to the person you were socializing with?

I wish we were doing a form of discussion, then I would get to hear people stories…Most of the ones I’ve heard are SUPER HILARIOUS. The thing with the Internet Life is that you can go the extreme, you can google, put up pictures that totally bring out who you are not, you can just not be you. But in real life you don’t have a choice…you’ve just got to be you

(There’s room for pretence in real life, but there are some you just can’t..If you are shy, you are shy…unless you’re high on something, if you’re short/tall, then you are…unless you take the shrinking pills like in cartoons, if you are black/white, you are that).

I shall not deny, I love Social Networks…like really, the “people” and people in there, can really make your day interesting…They are all out of this world. Majority of them are cool, interesting, funny, hilarious, intelligent… have perfect responses to difficult/confusing situations. Chances of getting stuck intellectually when you are on a social network are slim.

The is a reason they are called Social Networks, they HELP in socializing…that’s just one aspect of your life. The social aspect of it. There are many other things in life and the mistake we do is look for them in the Social Networks. And that’s where I would say that Internet Life ≠ Real Life

People go look for Life in the Internet … Acceptance, Security, Purpose, Fulfillment, Happiness, Love, Solace … Well just to burst your bubble, that’s the wrong place because for sure you will find all that…and an extra bag of chips to top it up. The Internet never lacks anything. It’s a synonym for China. I have never gone to China, but I hear “ask and you shall be given – bootleg, comes in high , average and low quality”

Basically, Internet Life is a fake. As long as you’re transmitting anything over the Internet there’s always an exaggerated version of you *Believe it or not*. The only time Internet Life = Real Life is when there is a Meet Up. When you see the real person behind that computer or the person behind the mask.

The pictures, the information on internet can all be altered. The pictures could be photoshoped…the picture can make one perceive you as tall while you are short, information you give can make one think you are super outgoing while on the other hand you are shy and introvert… You get my point I know.

Meetup’s as much as they don’t tell you the whole truth, at least reveal a small part of the real person. It eliminates the thought of you being a bot (robot) or a fake. I always get surprised at how different a person can be on the internet from the real life and that’s the reason why I came up with this post.

Today’s Advice:

Keep Internet Life and Real Life Separate, in case you have to mix them  up, meet-up with the Real People. And don’t look for Life in the internet because it’s Life-Less!

CHEERS MATES!

Signing Off — *Kawi*

Generation Twitter – Facebook Facingout

Okay this weather is just so confusing. I thought I saw the sun yesterday, and today am freezing like hell #paradox ….lol but I always freeze now that the sun rays never reach my desk, am on that disadvantaged side…next to the window but far from the rays.

Anyway, this post was to explain how Twitter has now become a lifestyle hence the generation twitter, I mean even Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook Founder) feels threatened ooh which he should…hehe at the rate twitter is growing, Facebook might just be  Facedout. Seeing as am having a testimonial on my twitter usage already.

I can’t remember how I heard of it really twitter that is, oh yeah, I read it on CNN about this US president who used to tweet i.e write short updates on the different aspects of his life, i.e. his location, the weather, mood and they were found years later and were said to be tweets. And that twitter has taken that idea.

So I was like, “It sounds cool”. And I go to twitter.com and faithfully sign up with a username and password. And when the first page opened I was so clueless of what i’m supposed to do. So the excitement automatically faded seeing as am techno savvy or so I think..lol So being a normal human being, I forget that I had joined and go ahead with life, by that time facebook was the in-thing haha am talking about it like it was 1900BC.

Like months or a year later people start talking about twitter, and I remember I had an account but I can’t remember the Username and Password….and this is what we would call the:

“The Twitter Initiation Phase”

I can bet I’m not the only one whose done that, like three quarters of the guys I know on twitter have gone through the same.

So anyway, there’s no manual to tell you what to do next, so I started with my profile, then I figure, there’s no activity going on, I don’t know who to follow, who to follow me… so I was just putting updates like “Twitter is so complicated”, “I’m not getting how this is done”…lol and slowly some tweoples started following me, and I got the whole drift not really though.

I mean I still thought FaceBook was the thing, clearly I hadn’t tapped twitters full potential. And so I would visit it once in a while, although there was nothing appealing or driving me towards it.

Then comes the next one:

“The Twitter Familiarization Phase”

This where I started realizing, that I can actually use twitter as a communication channel, you know where I can follow a couple of friends and non-friends who have information that’s of relevance to me and they would follow me back or vice versa.

It’s where I realized the value of the two most important symbols “@” and “#” whereby @ is the reference to a follower such as @Someone , then # is for trending topics, or for emphasis on something. Once you get this two, I think you are set. You’ll enjoy for some time.

Then comes the:

“The Twexpert Phase”

This is where you totally enjoy Twitter, where the you get the drift, know your way around. Now you’ve become a veteran, You can Retweet(RT), you can quote, reply, Direct Message (DM), put links and so on.

It’s where you have been able to get he right tweets on your timeline by identifying the interesting people with interesting and beneficial tweets.

I think once you know how to use twitter to your benefit you can actually get a lot out of it besides te social part. I mean it has people of different professions, people who know different things and update you. It’s a mini Wiki…lol, just that a status is limited to 140letters, which is a good thing, hence the name “tweet”. #ilike

I could be having a lousy day and some tweetmates actually make my day.  They are virtual friends but feels like they are actual friends… which they now are, I mean the best thing is to associate a tweet with a face, for the tweetmates i have met #cheers #tweeton.

For those who take twitter to personally, woe to you, it can make you or break you, just like any other social network. It also the best social network for those people who like anonymity i.e. being anonymous , you can keep your guard low like tweet away without people judging you or knowing who’s actually behind that tweet.

There are many applications that one can use to access twitter other than twitter.com, and until I realized that I used to find some of the twitter functionalities quite a burden like retweeting and so on, so at the moment am on ~ Sessmic Web App, and on mobile dabr.co.uk works well.. All this thanks to my Tweet Techie ~ @mwendariungu just giving credit where its due am nice like that lol

The only thing I hate about twitter, is when you are going to access it, and it brings you a #FailWhale Totally sucks, especially when you are burning to say something of importance yeah right.

Otherwise i’m a content twerson, I like twitter though am not yet an addict #ithink besides the hashtags even on text messages on phone, hope I dont hash tag when sms’ing my dad..ha! He would be so clueless #fail

Looks like am marketing twitter but in the actual sense not, I just like the whole idea. If you’re not in it, you are missing out.

Ok, not me literally, but that’s the essence of TWITTER – Follow me, I follow you and we interact {that’s me making up my own things…lol}

Signing out — *Kawi*

Mind in the gutter

I couldn’t have been with you so long and you just slip off like that, I mean, surely that’s so unfair. So tender so young I started out with you. I think I was 17 clearly seeing I was even underage, You took advantage of the fact that I didn’t know what I wanted in life, my direction, my desires, my interests. I was totally green and naïve to the world. Okay, I brought myself to you, but instead of denying me of the chance and giving me excuses like you’re too young, or in experienced like everyone else would do, you whole-heartedly took me in. Our relationship went through up and downs thick and thin.

But we maneuvered through it. At some point I hated what you were doing to me, I was even wondering why am with you in the first place. You know the kind of parasitic feeling whereby am the host being chewed on by you, the parasite. Well, I never thought of leaving because I am a persevering person#ithink and I apparently work well under pressure, ok truth be told, I wanted to run away from you, because I was feeling like you’re not giving me enough, I did not know what I wanted with you. It’s like you were using me, not cool. You gave me so much pressure and made me anti social at some point, gave me sleepless nights, sometimes I would even forget to eat because of the stress you were giving me.

You know how someone would know what they really like about whatever they are having a relationship with. In this case, I could not specify what it is exactly I liked about you, yeah, I had you and everyone else saw like our relationship is a budding one. It was great in the outside. But in the inside I was clueless. Maybe I was just too young and inexperienced for sure. Everyone else seemed to be alright and in touch in their relationships. But as usual I try avoiding comparisons you never know.

Anyhow, from this relationship I learnt a whole lot. It made me grow in places I never thought I would grow, it made realize things I never thought will come to my realization. It made me who I am today. It opened my mind and gave me ideas. It taught me to be curious, inquisitive and exploring.

You allow us to have an open relationship, like you allowed me to see others and try them out without feeling jealous. I ogled at them and told you straight to your face and you were still faithful to me. You allow me to use ou with others and you’re still my main one. You’re very generous.

You’ve tolerated me for five years now, and still want to be with me, but I’m the one slipping away. I have now realized that, and you are just the other best thing to happen to me. So me and you till the end, thanks for the open relationship.

My relationship with INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY is now supposed to get back on track , I am starting to embrace it and I want to give back what  it has taught me all this years and how well it’s treated me. Well, PROJECT MANAGEMENT is my side kick !

Signing off — *Kawi*