Being a Decent Netizen

 We, most of us, are victims of a faulty pedagogy or to say a mistaken social ideal that demands each of us to be a great person, to leave our footprints on the sands of time. This was a cruel idea of subjugating people on a mass scale. The idea of greatness is such that for most persons it would remain an ever-elusive goal. And having failed in the project they nurse a secret ego that they deserved but failed because of being wronged or live a delusive and painful life of assuming themselves high-profile persons without having positions of commensurate power or influence, and, worst of all, they become servile subjects suffering from inferiority complex. This ideal is a ploy and must be discarded with the contempt it deserves. 

Writing the above is not the immediate purpose of this post, but something very current is the objective of it. When social media came, the suppressed feelings of realising that missed greatness overtook most of us. Social media offers everyone, who can afford the device, a public platform. And most people lapped up it. 

In this context, I just paste my comment on a certain post on Facebook in order to share my idea about being a decent person on social media.  

... On second thought, I would like to add a few more things. First, while we post on social media our objective should be clear. It is natural to expect on the part of an ordinary person to enter a conversation with fellow netizens and pals but being desirous of some fan following among fellow folks is something I find distasteful. I think such persons should enter a performing profession like dancing, acting, rhetoric, exhibitionism etc, or in other words, one should get into the entertainment business. I think for us gentle citizens or community members, the purpose should be a civilized conversation. That is what we call decency. Secondly, we should realise that most people are circumstanced and we must see things with respectful compassion and concern. And lastly, the crux of being conversant are certain things: the enjoyment of fellowship, awareness of conditions which conduce our life, and expression of our right to a comfortable and dignified life.

Niraj Kumar Jha