The hitches of large social network groups

As I watched the midnight sky glittered with colorful fireworks, I could not help but reminisce one New Year's Eve I spent all alone while looking out of the window at the 4th floor of Jose Potenciano Memorial    Medical Center (then known as Polymedic). I had spent so many Christmas and New Year's Eves while on duty but what made that New Year's Eve at Polymedic so poignant was the fact that I felt so out of place.

This could have been the reason why in the midst of the present festivity, the thought of many Filipina mothers working in foreign lands away from their families kept nagging me. The latest innovations in cyberspace may somehow appease their pains, but for most of them this will never be enough: this long distance interaction can never fill the gap created by lost relationships among loved ones, particularly with that of their children. No one can ever blame them therefore if they spend a considerable amount of their hard earned money and squeeze into their extremely demanding chores to take a sneak at the latest thread in their social network group. They find much solace in pouring their sentiments on, as well as in reading punks and jokes from a closed loop audience.

Nevertheless, such network group is a double bladed sword. While there is a common ground that cements the group diverse personalities, attitudes and values exist; unless the group is small enough and close-knit. The presence of diversity in large network group may be used to its advantage if the members are open minded to each other's limitations and needs. Since acceptance is hardest between strangers there is a tendency to address the thread to old acquiantances, which is very dangerous because the writer often forgets that the whole large group is being addressed to - and that is where the knot loosens up.These are the facts that even the creators and administrators of the network group find hard to deal with, particularly if there are no rules, goals or objectives that can guide members through.

If this is the case then, what is the better alternative? My 2 cents worth of opinion is that closed loop social networking is still the best for our Filipino OFWs. If one is working in an environment where everything and everybody are so foreign, what better reprieve could there be than being with a group of people who can bring fleeting moments of normalcy and sanity and a flash of the good old life? 

At this time and age, with a few clicks of the finger a social network group can be created but the responsibilities of the creators and administrators are far broad and beyond. The mission why it is created has to be clearly laid out and the vision has to be straightforward so each one of the members will help attain that goal at some ascertained time...this way, membership will be well thought out both by the applicants and the creators of the site.

In the end however, it is my utmost dream that Filipino children be not separated from their mothers and that if ever there is a need for interaction, it is between loved ones who have but their best interest at hand.