Feline Musings

… To what is known as the (Lil) Green Patch  on Facebook! In spite of endless invites from friends to join Facebook, I had relented as I thought that having a profile on Orkut and Linked-In, along with other hobby groups on Yahoo, and shared photo albums on all major sites, was ample social exposure. However, when Gtalk was blocked in hubby’s office, and Facebook was left untouched, we both went ahead to create Facebook IDs to chat and “talk” Wall-to-Wall! And hence, was born my Facebook profile.

The original purpose of creating the profile was totally lost because hubby and I found the Facebook chat mechanism to be pretty rudimentary and also the Wall-to-Wall messaging more cumbersome than “talking” on email. However, I discovered a vast new interactive world on Facebook. The child within me took over. I loved the little activities that you could involve yourself in and was taking quizzes after quizzes. My profile was getting filled with little boxes and I was getting all the more involved. I found lots of friends and I realized I had just arrived. When I read an article stating that Facebook was a Narcissists best love affair, I knew exactly what the study was talking about.

I was soon picking up new things and new addictions in this virtual world of 100 million users. I got addicted to the Word Challenge game, but then I soon found another addiction, and it has stayed on with me till date. The (Lil) Green Patch on Facebook has become my favorite hang-out place. A Li’l Green Patch starts as a plain green patch of virtual grass, and slowly you receive plants from other “Greenie Friends” and have colorful virtual plants all over the patch. As the website puts it crisply – “Select a plant for your friends to grow in their Green Patch. For every 10 friends receiving a plant you save 1 square foot of rain forest from deforestation.” The developers of (Lil) Green Patch claim that they are using sponsorship revenue from advertisers to make donations to the Nature Conservancy’s Adopt an Acre program. Adopt an Acre is a program that provides critical funds for rainforest protection and restoration.

The two things that got me hooked to this online game were: 1. the promise to save the rainforests and arrest global warming; 2. the fabulous creativity in creating beautiful cartoon icons as well as natural looking flower icons for the green patch application.  Needless to say, a sloppy looking application wouldn’t have elicited much enthusiasm, but a (Lil) Green Patch looks so good with the brightly colored plants that you almost crave to have one of your own. The undertaking that you are contributing to an environmental cause, is an even bigger enticement.

So, I finally, logged onto a (Lil) Green Patch community, made lots of Greenie Friends from across the globe, and there has been no looking back since then. I am hooked and I am hooked like crazy. I have been sending and receiving plants to the community friends, and have been tending their gardens and doing all the little things online that are required to earn as many “greenbucks” as possible to buy tools and  things to tend the virtual garden, and also unlock more and more pretty flowers, and buy adornments for the garden. And I am not alone in this daily virtual grind to save the rainforests; there are millions around the world who are dedicated to this cause.

As I spend four-five hours of internet bandwidth usage, and nearly burn off the table top with the laptop heat, and also suffer a severe neck pain, and finger throb after hours of addictive tending and sending of plants on the virtual garden, I realize I am taking my enthusiasm a bit too far. I am somehow reminded of the controversial case of virtual pets and even virtual money in China, and also the debate surrounding video games. I can hear a ring of truth in my husband’s skepticism – “How do you know they are actually contributing the money to save natural reserves?”

While I don’t downright doubt the intentions of the sponsors of this game, I am still prodded by a voice that says that this is not the right way to save the environment. There are better ways to do it – planting a tree in your neighborhood, having real potted plants in your home and terrace, participating in cleanliness drives, shunning the use of plastic, reducing wastage and littering. While playing an online game, maybe a good way to pass time, actual activity can be more conducive to a cause. And even if actual activity is not possible, then aren’t we contributing to the global warming by incessant usage of our laptops and computers to play these online games. Aren’t we using up energy; aren’t we compromising our health!!

There is a lot of truth in the above paragraph but truth is difficult to accept. I am also addicted to this game within a week, but I have decided to take it slow. In fact, the game itself puts a cap on how much activity you are allowed to involve in, for example there are only X number of friends to whom you can send plants to in a day. I have also decided to spend only 15-minutes, maybe during office hours to earn a few greenbucks and send my daily quota of plants. I may save lesser sq feet of rainforests, and have fewer plants in my garden, but I will be conserving more energy and health.

And to end this post, on a light note, my sis calls up hubby over the weekend, and asks for me. Hubby says, “She is enhancing her virtual garden on Facebook.” Sis responds, “At least she is doing something constructive!” Hubby tells her matter-of-factly, “Marrying me was the only constructive thing she ever did in her life.” Hubby sure has narcissistic tendencies even if he is not a regular Facebook user!

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