The last entry I wrote was almost three years ago. I do not have a clear list of reasons of why I stopped. Somewhere along the line, I stopped feeling the need to document my life. I suppose a lot of people dropped blogging in favor of social networking sites (faster response, known audience, immediate gratification) but I went the other way. I also quit Facebook and Orkut. I have only one entry on twitter and the social networking site I check most frequently (ie once a month) is Linkedin.

It would be fashionable to say that I sacrificed my online avatar in favor of  genuine meaningful relationships in the real world. That would also be an outright lie. All I can say is that my world has become narrower (work, immediate loved ones, lots of books,  occasional travel) and I am comfortable keeping it that way. I do not know if that makes me a dinosaur or a prophet (or a nobody).

Of course Facebook beckons from time to time. Sometimes when my wife is checking her Facebook account (she is content to check Facebook once a week), I will sit next to her and hungrily devour updates from people I do and do not know. I will make her click videos, read inane quotes and pass unflattering remarks on personal photos. When she sharply reminds me to stop being a hypocrite and get my own Facebook account, I am tempted...but then I go no further.

A part of me remains firmly convinced that the more opportunities we have to express ourselves, the more noise we generate. A human being can have only so many meaningful things to say in his or her life time. We are not interesting beyond a point. We have no right to demand an audience. We have no obligation to be part of an audience.