Of PDE, Facebook and Photography

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I have a lot of reservations about the Americans. They eat a lot of cheese, drink way too much Cola and pour Ketchup on everything. Not to mention since they dominate every sort of market in the globe, companies build products first for America and then tweak it to suit other countries. Of course, this is not always the case, but when you come across something as a global product, it’s usually something to do with the United States. Let’s not even talk about their movies here. They themselves try to expose their government at the same time showcasing that only they can save the world!

All this aside, I respect them for their other trait, I call PDE or Public Display of Emotions. They have an excellent way of making people feel special in a crowd. Raising a toast during a quiet dinner and appreciating how important the folks at the table are is indeed a very good thing. Our brought up has never been such. We were told to assume a few gestures of gratitude though the other person did or did not mean them. For us, it’s not really important to convey our feelings to others, be it parents or siblings. Friends are different story, which we shall see now.

So this concept of PDE was something new to us. In the 90s, you’d probably be given strange looks when you complemented your friend in public; smileys like :-* would have border lines on taboo, with such explicit comments reserver for the upper strata who never really heeded about public acceptance. 
With the advent of Facebook, what we got was freedom to do all those things. We started posting photos to garner all the likes and comments we could. It was no longer wrong to say that he/she looked good or some of your best friends make a great couple. As the trend continues to grow, more and more are taking into photography. Those who never even held a camera in their life are now shutterbugs in malls, parks, coffee shops, offices, clubs, discos, cars, homes, you name it! Since a picture says a thousand words, all it takes is a caption to help you portray your stories better.

The other day I was talking about how everything right now is just a commodity and it has extended to more parts of life, in the sense of no hobby or passion being unique. Serious folks used to turn to Flickr or something else and I guess they still do, but the majority are on Facebook to show off their skills. This new found freedom to express our opinions have enabled to bring out the artist in many. Hope the trend branches out into things that really do matter like the society, environment, friends and family.

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