Why I'm Blogging Again
I had enough of social media. Not all of them, but most of them. Some platforms are significantly better than others. On YouTube, for example, there is millions of great content that cannot be explored in one lifetime. WhatsApp is another one. Technically not a social media but a social tool, it enables rapid and seamless communication across the globe for free. I think that’s the whole point of social media—it is to connect people. By gliding through physical barriers and limitations that may obfuscate our worldview, it should be a wonderful tool to exchange ideas and knowledge, promote collaboration, be aware of what’s happening in the world, and, most importantly, let us grow as human beings.
Alas, it is a story of coulda, woulda, shoulda. At one point in my life, I had used Facebook. It was great to see old friends and distant relatives online. Also at that time, it felt like an honour to be friends with influential and powerful people. Until I saw that the people I thought I knew behaved so differently from real life. When they started to spread misinformation, false narratives, misogynistic/ racist/ hatred-filled content, or treated me like a customer instead of a friend, I felt like I did not know them anymore. Thus I left the platform for good.
Years later, many of my music clients kept asking me for my Instagram profile. Fine, I made an account, but deactivated it soon after. This cycle repeated for many years. It really drains my soul every time I use it.
I am of the opinion that if whatever you are sharing does not benefit anyone, there is no purpose in sharing it. It gets really tiring every time you see your friends post mundane stuff about their lives, for example, what food they ate, which concerts they attended, which city they travelled to, what major project they worked on, etc. Everything they posted was about excitement. “Hey, look at this cool guy/ girl/ thing/ event.” And from my observation, judging by the amount of positive responses, people really love these kinds of posts.
Social media really distorts how we perceive the present moment. I saw so many people hooked to their smartphones, scrolling and liking content even while they were dining with their friends or loved ones. Every occasion needs to be Instagram-worthy, with pretty pictures of pretty people at pretty places. Every emotion—be it happy, sad, angry, inspired, or excited—felt synthesised and unnatural. We simply cannot express our love or admiration towards someone by tapping a heart icon. But on social media, that’s the ultimate currency. Every expression or feeling that you want to show, whatever you have inside your heart or your mind, must be socially approved either through emojis, memes, hashtags, or trendy short phrases. Toe the line, follow the damn template, or you become irrelevant.
The modus operandi for content creators is to obtain as many views and reactions as possible, and most of this content has no substance or truth. But people are hooked on sensualism, perhaps through any or all of the seven great sins. The algorithm is designed to bombard us with the content that gets the most views. In this lost world of modernity, success and worthiness of someone are measured by the amount of reach they have. And it ostensibly feels that social media users worship these people and aspire to be like them, so they would behave exactly like them, trying to get a piece of the attention for themselves.
But for someone “unpopular” like myself, despite there being so many people who religiously viewed my stories, they never said hello, responded or reacted to my content, or attended my events. I don’t actually get what they are looking for from me. I mean, why did they not just follow all the significant people if I didn’t mean anything in their lives? It kinda hurt because most of these people were not even strangers. Then I realised I had become just another exhibit (perhaps of a freak) on display. People don’t care about you—people are just addicted to content. Perhaps not all people, but if it was the exception rather than the norm, I wouldn’t feel this disgusted by this charade.
To me, don’t call it social media. It’s a social manipulation tool; either you manipulate others or are manipulated. We exchange our privacy, uniqueness, and sanity for some kind of approval from people who don’t really care or matter. A little over a decade ago, I was an active blogger, but I thought social media would help me to engage with new people, amplify my thoughts and feelings, and simplify the way to express myself. I learned the hard way that it was a horrible substitute. Perhaps I feared that without social media, my voice would not be heard. Now, I understand that peace will only come if I dare to walk my journey alone, as long as I am being true to myself. It’s futile to navigate my life path in the phantom world—only confusion lies therein.