SOCIAL MEDIA

               For the past few months, I was unable to do anything creative. Every story seemed trite and naïve like a YouTube video on 'What I do in a day?' or 'Shopping haul'. I was teeming with ideas but it was hard to express them and now writing was more of a burden as 'productivity' is the buzzword on the internet currently. I scrolled through Pinterest for ideas, skimmed various google articles, set up a writing routine, and looked up for inspiration- the whole nine yards and nothing worked. Instead, it exacerbated the situation to a point where I felt hopeless and dumb. It was then that I decided to take a step back and look at things from a different perspective. I shut down all the social media applications for a week and worked on other things. After a week, I felt better and at peace but not completely invigorated. This was not new, I was aware of the aftereffects of constant use of social media and like always brushed the matter aside but in reality, it's something more insidious. Realization dawned upon me that social media is the elephant in the room. 

                We are active on social media while running errands, having dinner, or hanging out with peers. In a way social media has become a monster that controls us, What we consider imperceptible can lead to a catastrophe. Recently, in Kerala, India a Facebook prank claimed the life of a newborn baby, and two best friends and destroyed a family. Cases relating to internet hoaxing and cyberbullying have also seen a sharp increase. Most social media 'influencers' spout a ton of nonsense and misinformation. Mental health studies report that endless consumption of social media can result in depression, low self-esteem, and anxiety in youths. The cacophony of robotic voices, gaudy Snapchat filters, and clickbait posts creates an illusion as we slowly drift away from reality. Eventually, this causes an existential crisis as we drown in uncertainty and worthlessness. 

                 Bo Burnham's song 'Welcome to the internet' paints a grotesque and grim picture of the internet with a villainous undertone. The problem has escalated due to the Covid-19 pandemic as people were locked in their homes and social media was a window into the outer world.  This is a global issue and demands global action and responsibility. In a Netflix documentary 'The social dilemma' former employees of Google, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and other sites express that the evil effects of social media were unprecedented and the basic idea of designing these platforms was to spread positivity and bonding people.

                   Tristan Harris, co-founder of The Center of Humane Technology and a former Google employee describes technology as a simultaneous utopia and dystopia. Can we totally eliminate social media from society? Absolutely no. A slew of regulations and legislation regarding cyber security and data privacy must be introduced. A change is imperative to make the system more humane, adhere to ethical practices and not treat humans as an extractable resource.