SOCIAL MEDIA, ME AND MY FAMILY

As a college student who spends prolonged intervals of time away from home,
I’ve often found social media to be a double-edged sword, capable of evoking feelings of
both happiness and sadness. The rigours of law school ensure that I never have more than a
few fleeting minutes to get up to speed with social media – a state of affairs that my hectic
post-tenth schooling has accustomed me to. What I was not accustomed to, however, was that
social media updates of my immediate family – my parents and my younger brother – would
now no longer include me, a student residing a good two thousand kilometres away from
Mumbai. My assortment of social media applications all portrayed the same thing – pictures
and videos uploaded by my family of events, functions and vacations in which I was
conspicuous by my absence. My own posts on social media used to feature my family fairly
consistently; but this too tapered off in the due course of time. This constant reminder of my
separation was hard to stomach, and contributed heavily to the homesickness I experienced in
the initial months of college. I felt stuck in limbo between college and home – one foot in
both, but not belonging to either.

Fortunately, this was not to stay. Over time, I fit into the groove of college,
and along with it came a new-found appreciation for the role of social media in connecting
me to my family. Modern social media offers an entire suite of various services; video-
calling, in particular, was one which I found useful. I spent many a Sunday evening
conversing with my family on a variety of topics, from politics to the weather to college
events. In that brief period of time, I was transported from the foreign city of Kolkata to my
home turf in Mumbai – a time when I felt at home. Through Facebook, I had a window into
the life of my younger brother - scrolling through his social media updates reminded me of
my own childhood. I had always imagined playing an important role in my brother’s life, and
while the geographical distance did render that a bit difficult, social media made it a lot easier
to meaningfully connect to his life and advise him on the way forward. Social media’s sphere
of influence was not limited to my immediate family either; family members ranging from
close cousins to distant aunts were all just a few clicks away from being involved in my life.

As I venture into the next juncture of my life, which would involve

professional commitments in cities far from home, I have come to realise that social media’s
role in my life as a medium to connect with my family will certainly endure the test of time.