Dear social media,
I am not fascinated by what you have to offer. I do not wish to be a part of this culture as I value people more than hashtags. I am not against social media, but I don’t find it useful either. Not because my self-esteem is too low to participate, but I wish to be a part of a community that is connected with real stories, full of feelings and emotions, bound with mutual care and affection, over Instagram stories. I’d wish to be a part of real-life stories instead of being a part of someone’s snap chat stories.
I wish to sit with people and see their lives through a photo album, that has no filters. I wish to make memories with people and celebrate people that have been an integral part of my life, instead of celebrating a ‘friendversary’ on Facebook. How about stealing the moment, playing the videos of memories in your head and basking in nostalgia? How about closing your eyes and sending silent gratitude to the person for their time and presence in your life?
I just do not want to remember people on a few special occasions and make long posts of appreciation or send wishes on Facebook; instead, I want to make days memorable and special, for the ones whose existence is my life is irreplaceable. I wish to know how people feel in my presence, over my social media presence. I wish to see human reactions over emoji reactions. I wish to explore all shades of human nature and humankind. I wish to build permanent, deep, and meaningful bonds, instead of instantly gratifying bonds, that come with trifling texts of “Hi”, “what’s up”, “you look good, can we talk”. When I get such texts, I am often left with the thought – what are people looking for in this illusionary world distant from reality? I long for validation through life and not electronic likes or comments. I want people to recognise me not for my feed, but for my deed.
I wish to discuss the deepest cracks, the inevitable mistakes, the failures that are often unspoken, unshared. Have you ever seen a status saying “yes, I made a mistake but I learned and now I am willing to change”, “I failed at my 100th attempt, I am still trying”, ” I feel dejected, and I am shattered”?
Dear social media, in your world, we are all, often, left detached, instead of feeling attached. The most invaluable gift you can gift someone is warmth. If we extend warmth and acknowledge the human need for meaningful attachments, a person with a million friends on an online platform would not end up feeling lonely.
I wish to like and share with the world the empowering and inspiring side of each person I meet in my journey. I want to live in the present, experience nature, food, human ingenious, human bonding and appreciate all the beauty as it comes, without doing each task for the sake of content (though it is a good way to make money these days). I don’t want to be known by my social media popularity; I want to be known for my contribution to this world. I do not wish to express my concerns online, thus absolve myself from the responsibility to act; instead, I would want to privately participate and make a consistent contribution to a social cause aligned to my values.
Dear social media, you are encouraging people to form and cherish artificial bonds over actual friendships. The term ‘friend’ as used on social media lacks the intimacy identified with conventional friendships, where people actually know each other, want to talk to each other, have an intimate bond and frequently interact face to face. In the olden days, people lived a longer and much healthier life because they knew the significance of having healthy human relationships and interactions. You have limited people to blogs, products/services or a brand.
If you are reading this, I want you to do a small task. Withdraw yourself from all the social media platforms and see how many people actually want to sit and make time to talk to you. Cherish the handful few. In this world of casual chatting and texting, I wish to experience the richness of human bonds and the delight of having an unfeigned conversation.
Show your trust in people, show them their positive and bright side, tell them they are worthy and important for you, tell them you care, be open and honest, have no regrets and you will experience the sacred feeling of being born as a human. Ask a dying person what they want the most, and the only answer you will get is to regain human touch by being true to their reality. Aren’t we too involved in creating a double consciousness? Why is it that we have to wear different masks with different people? Why are we so engrossed in creating a virtual reality when we have the potential to create a beautiful reality for ourselves and others.
From,
A person who has a zest for living as a human.