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Unsocial Media



Social media is one of the most entertaining places for people like me who don’t know how to deal with real societies. I love going through the comments appended to well-written articles whose links are given in Facebook and Twitter – the only two social medias I’m fairly active at. The comments massacre the very spirit of the article concerned. I wonder whether any of the commenters actually read the articles.
How many bhakts, devotees, pilgrims, retreat-goers, or the like, have actually read the scriptures for which they fight tooth and nail on real as well as virtual platforms?
Do people read anymore?
But, be sure, they write. And they write copiously. Social media is full of copious writers.
Does that make it an unsocial place really? I won’t answer that affirmatively. If you restrict your friends’ circles to a few, you get the kind of societies you like. I hope so. But I have accepted friendship requests indiscriminately just because it’s all virtual and I don’t mind the entertainment.
It doesn’t entertain really. It nauseates most of the time. But my entertainment is that nausea which is a constant reminder of the world’s standards. It is a good warning for me. A warning against stepping out into the real world.
In the real world, I stay put in my house and workplace. Shut off. Self-imposed imprisonment. The social media sustains that imprisonment.

PS. Written for Indispire Edition  301: Is social media making people more unsocial? #SocialMedia

Comments

  1. Kiran AcharyaDecember 4, 2019 at 4:30 PM

    I agree. It isn't entertaining at all. People write now because they can, and not because the they know anything.
    Like you, I don't discriminate requests, I accept anyone who calls themselves a writer. So, it used to bother me when my supposed friends started verbal (written) abuse. I don't mind extremist viewpoint, but the attitude if someone tries to contradict their POV.
    But I don't think it's just social media. These people are truly like they're on social media. I don't think social media corrupts people, it just at times, shows their true colours. Our society itself has become asocial. Social media is just a reflection.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalDecember 5, 2019 at 6:21 AM

      Indeed they are just what they are even when they enter public platforms. That's why I said social media is a virtual society. I also agree with your view on the nature of human societies. We need to change our definition as social beings.

      Delete
  2. Kiran AcharyaDecember 4, 2019 at 4:41 PM

    Kindly excuse my typos ��

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lopamudra BarmanMay 26, 2020 at 7:15 PM

    Well on point....be in Covid or not, self-isolation, perhaps, is the gateway of peace and retaining the sense in self...I envy my husband, who doesn't have any social media association, not even WhatsApp, except his writing platforms....people certainly don't care reading more than a complete sentence, think beyond a breath...it runs on likes without knowing what is likeable...reagrds

    ReplyDelete

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