SUNDAY BLOG FT. THE SOCIAL GAME

Just the day before, I came across a new set of NMC regulations that curb how and how much “celeb” doctors can engage on social media with their target audience, which got me thinking about how social media has impacted us enough to take over the legal system as well. We need rules and regulations now to dictate our social media behaviour. Something so innocuous as a technology made to connect people has taken such a draconian shape that we need to disconnect from the same. Our lives are governed by algorithms and our needs replaced by wants. Where people used to have knowledge before, they have opinions now. Meaningless ranting and information overload has taken over our timelines and we do not know what to consume and what to let go anymore. This leads to me to think – that soon there might be something known as ‘Information Overload syndrome’ or ‘Social media exhaustion’.

As we scroll through our timelines going through countless tweets, articles, posts, photos, memes… do we really understand the kind of media bytes we are feeding our brain? The kind of cannon events we go through per second which earlier probably we went through over weeks or months? The kind of eyeball grab which sends our nervous system into an upheaval – an emotional rollercoaster of sorts.

Not just that, by giving our headspace to such people we have not only perpetrated an entire band of social chimpanzees dancing it out trying to grab the most eyeballs and get money in return. As each and every person becomes a social media influencer,” do we really find it acceptable to take half baked opinions from people who are not experts in the field. It’s akin to getting Botox done by an untrained person who has taken a two-week rapid course in Aesthetics with no primary medical degree — disastrous. Remember when we were kids and looked up to APJ Abdul Kalam or Nelson Mandela? Now imagine instead of them speaking about their work with their vast expanse of knowledge and understanding of their own field, they spoke about 5 ways to apply concealer to hide your dark spots – would you go for it? With changing algorithms to perpetrate the influencing, influencers, and the influenced, people like Musk are slowly monetizing what used to be supposedly ‘free speech’ in all its literal and metaphoric terms. Putting speech into money brackets, with premium users being allowed more access to words and more reach, are we progressing to a world where money will decide the mass thought process?!

What was an innocuous childhood play with dolls has now been cleverly marketed so and so that we have an entire platoon of girls from all ages dressing up in pink to go watch Barbie which has a substandard plot with a clever feminist angle of marketing. A random female whose racial/ body shaming slur over a Pakistani girl who married a guy in her neighbourhood has been made ‘viral’ and being asked to come on talk shows?! Five years back the account which begged for follow to each account on Instagram is now a well known travel influencer ‘influencing’ people to buy into the travel consumerism which has been funded by their own likes and eyeballs. Where does this end?

We have created an unnecessary culture of consumerism feeding consumerism. The big conglomerates to keep this wheel going are doing their best to add perks and voice to these chosen social media chimpanzees. Such is the trend, I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next few years, “What do you want to become when you grow up?” will yield – “I wanna become a Social media influencer and get the gold play button” as goals.

My teacher in primary school used to say – the tree with the maximum number of fruits, bends.

I feel the meaning and depth of this are lost to our generation. Where the maximum number of likes, retweets, and shares takes precedence, people are willing to decimate others just to prove a point. Incessant rambling and ranting. With increasing space for people to express they have forgotten the art to just listen and understand before they retort. Why do we have the feeling to be right at all times? Don’t we learn from differences?! Knowing that people have something different to say and add value to a standpoint is what adds flavor to a debate. Have we forgotten the art of debating? Is it just an elocution now? Or worse – just a podium speech with the audience having a ball of word limit stuffed into their mouth?

Just some thoughts to mull over a long weekend.

P.

• amwriting
• blog
• inspiration
• life
• opinion
• opinion piece
• social
• social media
• writer
• writing