Joshua came across an interesting video on Tik Tok and instantly ended up following the user.
He then logged on to his Instagram and searched for that user, followed her
there too. Joshua becomes infatuated by the blogger’s seemingly perfect life
and started mimicking her every move. The blogger posts a picture of her
breakfast at her favorite bagel place in Panjim; Joshua stops by for lunch the
same day. The blogger quotes a passage from her favorite book; Joshua orders it
online right away. She posts in her story about a new Netflix program and
Joshua invariably buys the Netflix subscription to watch the same program.
Does this seem too filmy and exaggerated, but trust us; reality
is not far from this. Today social media is nothing but a pool of influencers
who end up manipulating the youth’s likes and dislikes. Such is the mania of
social media that we forget our own real self and just try and copy what we
think is trending.
There is no denying that the youth has always found inspiration
in people who lead a bit of glamorous life, be it film celebrities or sports
personalities. With times, although these inspirations remained and always
will, there is a new crop of influencers flooding the social media. They are
the ‘social media influencers’. The big difference in their celebrity status is
the fact that they aren’t the usual hi-fi celebrities; they are common people,
who have the power to influence a group of other common people. They could be
eating at your neighborhood café and attract you to do the same, by using the
influence of pictures they post. They could be traveling to some place and
inspiring you to plan your next trip there. They could be wearing a particular
brand and lure you into buying the same. The power of these influencers is
unmatched. They truly rule the lives of the youth today.
YouTubers are other set of influencers who greatly affect the
minds of our youth today. Shroud, a famous PUBG streamer is someone who every
game freak looks upto. When mom asked Rosanna to cook, Rosanna didn’t ask her
mother for the recipe, but she watched her favorite chef on YouTube instead.
From finding solutions for studies, to deciding which clothes to
buy for summers, from making a list of food joints you want to visit, to the
places you want to travel, from watching game streams, to reading books, to
even help you decide which college you should opt for, these common people on
social media have a great influence on the lives of youth today!
Addiction to social media and the need to draw inspiration from
someone’s perfect life is what has given rise to this mania. A survey shows
that 51% of girls are not happy with their appearances and want to look like
someone else. The fit body and gym videos of an influencer urge the common boy
to look at his body differently go to the gym and sweat it out if he wants to
look good. Yes there are a lot of pros of following these social media
influencers, but there is a downside as well. People who start looking down
upon themselves due to the inappropriate comparison to their lives are wrong.
This comparison leads to frustration and sometimes depression too. In order to
make one’s life as happening as the others, the youth sometimes deviates from
their path and can tread on a wrong road.
All
said and done, follow someone, get inspired but don’t get carried away.
Somewhere youth needs to understand that what’s projected on social media is
still far away from what reality is!
