 Priyanka Saurabh
Today’s society has come to a turning point where on one hand technological advancement has made life easy and fast, on the other hand, the same technology is slowly and silently hollowing out the social fabric. Social media, which was once a powerful medium of information and contact, has today become an addiction that has seriously affected family, relationships and mental health.
In earlier times, communication meant sitting and talking, laughing, crying, arguing and understanding. Today, all this has been converted into “typing” and “scrolling”. Be it children or the elderly, women or men – everyone has a smartphone in their hands and their eyes are on the screen. The conversations that used to happen in the kitchen, courtyard or living room are now contained in ‘status updates’, ‘reels’ or ‘tweets’.
At the speed at which the reach of the internet and the spread of smartphones have increased, our real world is shrinking at the same speed. Social media has changed the definition of relationships – now friends are those on whose posts we send hearts, family is those whose messages we have “seen”, and happiness and sorrow are what we have shared on “story”.
Children are no longer playing games on the playground, but on their mobile screens. Instead of talking to their parents after returning from school, they open Instagram. Adolescence, which was once a time for self-exploration and social experiences, is now caught up in the race for selfies, filters and virtual identities.
This overuse of social media has created a conflict where a person is very busy in appearance but is very lonely from within. Relationships which were once the basis of life have now turned into ‘tags’ and ‘mentions’. Husband and wife live under the same roof, but communication takes place on WhatsApp. Parents serve food to children, and children take pictures of their food before eating and post it.
This habit has now become an addiction – checking social media as soon as you wake up in the morning, scrolling at night before going to sleep, live streaming every moment or at least capturing it on the phone. This behavior is no longer just a waste of time but has also become the seed of mental disorders.
Digital lifestyle has not only affected sleep, diet, concentration, but has also had a profound impact on mental health. The constant exposure to the ‘perfect life’ seen on social media fills the common man with an inferiority complex. Seeing pictures of others’ success, beauty, travel and lifestyle, a person starts considering his own life insignificant. This is the moment when disorders like stress, depression and self-reproach start taking birth.
This effect is especially strong among teenagers and young people. The likes, comments and followers received on social media have become a new measure of self-evaluation. If a post gets fewer likes, it hurts self-esteem; if one gets trolled, a state of depression persists for months.
On the other hand, the web of ‘fake identity’ and ‘virtual glamour’ on this platform has become so dense that people are getting disconnected from reality. On one hand, a person posts photos of expensive clothes, cars and cafes to show off to others, while in real life he is surrounded by debt and stress.
Suspicion, distance and quarrels have replaced communication in families. Unnecessary conversations and affairs on social media in married lives have increased the number of divorce cases. Irritability, social isolation and loneliness have increased among children. The elderly feel neglected in their own homes because children are lost in their mobile phones.
Moreover, social media is full of false ideals and harmful content. Girls are pressured to have a perfect figure, young people are misled by false models of success, and young children are entangled in violent or deceptive games.
Today, when we talk about ‘fact checking’ and ‘digital literacy’, it is important to understand that social media is no longer just a medium of information or entertainment – it has now become a force that deeply influences our thoughts, behaviour and relationships.
In a country like India, which has a tradition of joint families, social media has deeply challenged the feeling of “togetherness”. Instead of sitting together and eating sweets during festivals, people are now busy posting pictures of that sweet on Instagram. The touch of relationships, the warmth of communication and the feeling of each other’s presence has been hidden behind digital algorithms.
It is true that social media has provided many positive things as well – a platform to raise voices, a means to spread awareness, and in many cases a means to build public pressure for justice. But when this means becomes the end, a problem arises.
Now is the time when we need to introspect on both individual and social levels. We have to understand that we are users of social media, not its slaves. Technology should be used to make life better, not to swallow it.
We have to tell our children that life is not about likes. We have to teach them that real life is more valuable than reel life. We have to ask ourselves when was the last time we sat next to our parents and talked without using a mobile phone.
The struggle is not whether to give up social media, the struggle is how to balance it. We have to get into the habit of “digital detox” – spending a day without social media, keeping the mobile away while eating, not looking at screens before going to bed at night, remembering God or family as soon as you wake up in the morning, not Instagram.
Governments and institutions should also take concrete steps in this direction. Digital balance education should be provided in schools, workshops should be conducted for parents, and social media companies should be held accountable for ensuring safe content for children.
Human brain is faster than technology, but if it becomes a slave of technology, it loses humanity. Social media is a powerful tool, provided we control it and not it controls us.
It is time to rediscover ourselves in the digital world – for true relationships, for peace of mind and for a society that is empowered by technology but also connected by emotions. This new addiction of social media will break only when we approach it with self-control, dialogue and understanding. Otherwise, this addiction will rob our children of their innocence, our families of their warmth and our society of its soul. |
