Social Media Dictates Normalcy

Social media. Two words which have become highly influential in today’s world. If we look around, we can see that right from children up to the aged, almost everyone uses social media. It wouldn’t be strange to say that it has become one of the necessities in life. 

As much as we can laud the usefulness of the numerous social networking websites, their dark side cannot be ignored. 

Social media is filled with a humongous amount of information, which are apparently considered to be “of use.” But have we actually scrutinised them? People have gotten so used to finding information on social media, that they have turned a blind eye towards the truthfulness behind them. 

A new breed of people have emerged now. People who post utter nonsense in the form of “The Fact.” For instance, who in the world has said that pink is for girls and blue, for boys? Men are chided for wearing pink, and called Girly. Similarly, women who are more open, more comfortable in their own shoes, are often dictated to “behave” the way they should. Who is the culprit? Social media.

It is such a brilliant influencer, that people have started keeping each footstep the way it has been pointed out by the social media as “normal.” We have all seen or heard of robots. They are controlled by a remote. Presently, the word robot has been replaced by human beings, and the word remote, by The Great Social Media. To put it in simpler words, humans, are being controlled by the social media. 

Let me give you an example. Chetan Bhagat is a famous Indian novelist. He writes stories for entertainment which we all read. Do not say that you haven’t read. That’s what social media has brought us down to. It has made us hate Chetan Bhagat. True that people find his writings monotonous. However, we should not forget that it was Chetan Bhagat who cultivated the habit of reading in almost 60% of the youth of India. It was due to him that many youngsters derived inspiration to explore their writing abilities. But what has the social media done? Termed him a no-good author. People started ridiculing those who read his books. People who say these are usually the ones who started their reading due to Chetan Bhagat. Who is the culprit? Social media. 

This is one example. If you delve deeper into this, it will surely be a shock, as you too have been dictated by the social media on your current belief system. 

If all of us knock some sense into our minds and have our own beliefs, irrespective of what the social media dictates, we can surely overpower this remote controller.