‘What’s on your mind, Rajyasree?’
Logging onto social media nowadays is like a lesson in existentialism. I don’t know who created these prompts for Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). But there it is every time you log on.
Isn’t it bad enough that we ask ourselves the same questions throughout the day, especially if you are living in NCR, barely surviving road rage and pollution levels, which make us feel like we are starring in Mad Max with Tommy Hardik Chopra in the protagonist’s role?
But more worryingly, most people take these prompts seriously.
Being on social media is a study in psychology. First, there’s a pecking order of social media sites. Gen X, Millennials and Baby Boomers use FB as a photo album and a stream-of-consciousness site. If you’re lonely, don’t know it, and want to show it, get on FB.Social media also provides you with a great platform for cosplay. You can pretend to be a gourmand, a devoted wife, part of an utterly in-love couple, a hands-on parent, a social do-gooder – you can even pretend you have friends. You can be anything you want. And given that you’re banking on most people in your social circle being too civil and polite – or too caught up in their cosplay – to call out your BS, you can get away with saying and dressing up your life any way you want.Also, just because FB asks, ‘What’s on your mind?’, it doesn’t mean you have to share what is on your mind. Or write your updates and spell words phonetically. This is the pitfall of everyone having access to the internet. They feel they must voice their opinion into the abyss of social media even if they can’t string three words together.
Now, every social media platform has its own set of communities. Facebook has people who seem constantly wronged and misunderstood by their friends. If you claim everyone is gossiping about you, you either have a persecution complex or change your social circle. Then there are the mini-babajis.
I know a sibling duo who are perpetually posting updates on how good and kind they are and sharing their lessons on being good and kind. Then there are the others who will post every tragedy in their lives or write, ‘Totally devastated, why does this keep happening to me?’ But they will not reveal anything, even if you ask.
If you ever want attention, social media has your back, baby.
X, though, is for more political and angsty discourse. This is where bhakts, journos, politicians, and friends of netas flock. No good manners are on display, and Globe Detective Agency should hire new employees from here, given how adept people are at finding tweets posted a decade back. If they were as diligent in their day jobs, these people would warm the cockles of Narayana Murthy’s heart.
But if you want to feel less lobotomised, what you need to do is get with the programme Gen Y and Z are on. Be Real is Instagram redux. Every day, at a different time, users take a photo of what they’re doing and upload it to their friends’ circle within two minutes of a designated time. Why, you ask? I say, why not?
Maybe it’s an experiment in Groupthink. On LinkedIn, everyone thinks everything is a learning experience for the corporate world. If there’s a cricket match, they’ll tell you how India’s loss is an example of how not to run your company. If their bags took too long to check-in at the airport, it’s turned into a thesis on effective HR practices on inclusivity. Everyone is a budding Spencer Johnson sans editor.
And there’s Snapchat and TikTok, all helping us become Gonzo filmmakers. But who am I to diss TikTok if Martin Scorsese is posting on it?
What a time to be alive. Let me quickly log on to FB and post the 50th picture of my dog this week.
