Status: Available

The WhatsApp status obsession has time and again always intrigued me. It was a rage, it’s still a rage! It might continue to till the end of time. So I’m now going to try to delve into the psyche of the human mind. Why are those neural connections being established when one decides to put up a status? What’s happening when one decides to put up a status? Do they want others to know about their whereabouts? Why? What do they derive from it? Or why are others so obsessed with others status? There are a few doped people who think it’s a fad changing the status every hour! Meh Instead try to carve a niche for yourself in this society.

Status Stalkers? Oh let me not get started on this! You type in something and the next moment your message inbox is inundated with questions. Does this show that people genuinely care for you? Yea, I agree that even I sometimes unknowingly wander off and check their status! Its simple human psychology, you want to know whether there’s anything interesting put up. We know that curiosity killed the cat, same thing applies for man. Man is always inquisitive to find out what’s happening in his circle (unless he’s an anti-social)

Let me list a few people out there…

There are a few who are so naïve and maybe even oblivious to such a feature that they don’t give a damn about what others think about their status. These are mostly oldies, uncles, aunts, stalking parents who want to keep a tab on their children. They have somehow survived the technological boom and here they are trying to keep up with the present generation. They want to be accepted and be a part of this change. So mostly those guys have that “Hey there, I am using WhatsApp” status and that’s going to stay there forever in that status bar space, feeling old and left out. And then there are a couple of them who have their status as available? It sometimes gives a wrong direction to person secretly stalking you.

Available? Like really? So where do we meet up? Tomorrow, 7.30, my place? : P

And then there are people who put up all these motivational and inspiring quotes! Very inspiring, life changing I must say. Unfortunately, those ephemeral quotes just stay with us for a few moments. The next WhatsApp ping drowns us, brings us back to reality and that life changing quote which we thought would have had an impact on us has passed away.

Then there are those whose status is a dot. Hmm, what can I say to them? Say something, not a dot! For Christ’s sake. Come on there are 140 characters and you chose a .? Then we have certain overly attached romanticists who make up their own love lines which are so clichéd and cheap! They are indirectly directed to their “special” ones which are usually bound to go unnoticed. Man-Up!

We also see some which mainly consist of song lyrics (yup, that’s me:P) But the question which again haunts is why? Why do I change my status? So that other people read it and have their own interpretation? Or maybe we update it just to show our contact list what’s happening in my life! So that people read it and can conclude that, Okay this guy is alive and kicking!

Statuses, most of the time serve as birthday reminders and help us show the love (virtual, I mean) we have for that person. Are statuses becoming conversation starters? Different people ask what it means. Thus giving us that feel of prominence? Does changing the status, self-motivate us? To push ourselves to the edge and when others ask, that pushes us more to strive towards our goals. Is that the main motive? These also reveal a lot about the personality of individuals, their taste, their behaviour, their likes and dislikes.

While a few handful people might put out brash and blunt statuses. Like, “who else is jobless reading this status” or “who reads this” .They mostly have a different opinionated take on everything else too or they have an acerbic wit which others don’t find very appealing. While some find solace in abusing somebody in those 140 characters of space, hoping that the person will read that. Again, Nope! It’s not the right way. While some blokes put on an abstract word status which don’t make any sense except to them. Others scratch their head solving this riddle like status which might either have a trivial meaning or something beyond human contemplation.

A few studies also show that chronic status updates are linked to loneliness and depression. And that’s one way of communicating what’s happening to them to the rest of the world. Empathy, comes into picture and they want us to feel them. It helps them be more connected. On a general note, putting up a status concerning an event of joy or tragedy makes us feel better. It’s more like a placebo, though there are no direct implications, it consoles us.

So bottom-line we change statuses to make an impression! An impression to others as well as you ourselves. We change it make a point. We change it to get little attention from our peers. We change it to ignite our thoughts. We change it because change is inevitable!