A research by Harvard University shows that when you receive a 'like' on social media your brain sends a chemical message called dopamine which gives you a feeling of being rewarded and makes you feel good.
In the current times when talking about mental health has become a need of the hour; I feel we cannot ignore the impact social media has on the mental health of individuals. I used to be guilty of finding myself scrolling through social media for hours mindlessly, until I heard a podcast in which the speaker said that this act is much like an addiction. Just like drugs or alcohol in which the addict to get his “fix” numbs his mind of thoughts and refuses to let his heart actually feel emotions; in much the same way, he resorts to these external devices.
Since people haven’t been able to strut their personalities much outside, a lot of them are looking to make their mark online.
As we suffer from this pandemic everyone’s favourite visual medium - Instagram has become centre stage for people to showcase themselves or who they want to be. They have really upped their game and it’s gone next level. Someone who didn’t even know the price of flour is now kneading out that perfect banana bread or lemon and cranberry tea cake. The longer the lockdown has drawn out, the weirder things are getting in instaland.
The other day I saw some influencers placing just a pillow in front of their bodies which barely stayed in place with a designer belt clinched at their tiny waist.
In case you haven’t got on the bandwagon let me list down some of the usual but rather unusual suspects
• The Throwback Empress - She’s constantly reminding all her followers about the various exotic places she’s visited and the innumerable parties she attended pre-covid, out of sheer nostalgia and boredom and also to not forget or be forgotten.
• The Domestic Goddess - She’s the one who’s suddenly become this extremely talented master chef and is even offering classes and selling her products for those who are completely deprived of exotic food staying home.
• The Mask Maker - The even more enterprising lot have jumped on the covid -19 prevention team and are making fancy masks and face shields.
• The Marie Kondoer- She’s spring cleaning and Diwali cleaning all in one throwing out the physical and mental cobwebs which are great for decluttering your headspace and making a point for the world to know.
• The One who screenshots all zoom calls - Pre covid you would recognise these folks as the ones who posted selfies with their friends at every party they attended and now they do it on zoom calls to make it a point to constantly remind us all but most of all themselves of the number of friends they have who will be there to hug and kiss them once this pandemic is over.
• The Birthday Wisher - These people love posting and wishing their friends and acquaintances when it’s their birthday in the hope of getting reciprocated when it’s their turn thereby showing everyone how loved and cherished they “truly” are.
• The Hiker - These guys are the ones who put lovely and serene pictures of nature trails and the countryside making the rest of us feel even more trapped in our homes.
• The Ones with the holiday homes - These are the privileged few who make it a point to show their privilege and status by posting pictures of themselves in their second or third or fourth palatial holiday homes with the kids frolicking in the backyard and climbing trees and plucking strawberries. They all are so free and happy living the “simple life”.
• The Parents posting pictures of their kids being ... well kids - So these guys are posting pictures of the only thing that’s in front of them, literally, and that’s their kids doing funny antics and you have to resign to your fate of watching their kids too besides your own.
• The Fitgrammer- So these are the people who are really keeping it together physically during the lockdown because they miss their gym a little too much. They are the ones inviting push up challenges and posting their latest Zumba dance moves. Now if only they could convince their dog to keep his nose or other parts of his body out of the shot.
• The Lover of motivational quotes and funny memes - These are the ones who used to be the designated therapists in all their friends’ groups. So, now they have found a platform to dole out their motivational quotes and messages. They juggle between the quotes and if something even remotely funny or weird happens in their home they have to meme it for the masses.
• The Covid Obsessed - These guys are a ball of anxiety and the only way they can thwart it is by making jokes about the entire pandemic and stuff around it.
• The Person who has tried out every possible lockdown activity - These guys will post about everything they’ve done in quarantine from cutting their hair to colouring it purple! From cooking to making 1000-piece puzzles to making TikTok videos for their friends’ birthdays or even if they are just trying to entertain themselves on Saturday night.
• The One who keeps it REAL - YOU #sorrynotsorry. Your house is a mess and so are you and honestly, you can’t be bothered to make a show of how your life should be projected to be. In fact, you have leaned into the mess and are just about keeping up with your work from home commitments and online schooling(more on that in a later post). This whole lack of keeping up with the Joneses has made you more easy-going. Now let’s go have a retalk with the therapist who said managing anxiety takes effort.
It is the year 2020 and we have so many social media apps and social media personalities that it can get overwhelming. Having said the above which is supposed to be a light and satirical take on the issue I should add that it’s also the year where we realise that without these apps the pandemic which fell upon us would be even more isolating and disconnecting. It’s opened up so many amazing avenues and channelled all sorts of products and services online which otherwise would be completely unavailable to us. It has been a huge source of information, entertainment and revenue, without which I don’t even know how we would have functioned. A lot of enterprising people have started small businesses through these channels not to mention the maintenance of connections between friends from all over the planet.
I’m not here to get into the debate of whether social media is a boon or a bane. All I’m saying is I’m making a smart choice and trying to balance it well for me by limiting myself to the sheltered reality of genuine relationships offline due to my desire for authenticity and connection and using social media for gaining information and not to succumb to any competition or unwanted influences...
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