[Monday Musing]
[Amar Sangno]
I would rather blame it on Senegalese-born Italian social media personality, Khaby Lame and UFC promoter Dana White for my Instagram reels addiction. If I describe my level of reels addiction in layman’s terms, I would rate myself between acute and chronic.
Once, I start scrolling the videos, I hardly get out of the luring algorithms. Phew!
Goodnight glue and good morning gaze, always on the phone screen. Most of the interactive information in terms of short or vertical videos are unverified, but still I am ready to swallow it up in the subconscious level and have knowingly been played by the algorithms. Thank god, at least I am not a digital creator.
Someone truly said that social media, especially Instagram reel, is the most democratic platform for interaction and engaging with virtual-world friends. It is so democratic that it penetrates beyond age barriers. Toddlers to teenagers, youths to adults, politicians to bureaucrats and technocrats, sportspersons to filmstars – everybody loves to be on reel.
Sometimes it creates a delusional world for the users, providing a fake atmosphere of joy and happiness. Many end up seeking validation for everything they do – their addiction for ‘likes’, ‘shares’ and ‘views’ on their videos. In some cases, addicted digital creators end up posting semi-nude or obscene contents for the likes and views.
Children and adults alike become actors and dancers, become experts in lip-syncing on melodious playback songs. Nonetheless, in these trying times across the globe, social media have made many people stars.
Many individuals rose to stardom post Covid-19, no matter how many have become redundant since. For instance, Khaby Lame, who shot to fame and became a classic example of going from rags to riches because of his satirical silent mocking of complicated life hack videos, followed by trademark hand, posted on TikTok.
In Arunachal, some teenagers are doing exceptionally well, though not up to Lame’s level, on social media, but have managed to create their own identities and niches.
Hosana Gyadu, a young video creator, has two lakhs and sixty five followers, while former Miss Arunachal and MTV Super Model of Year winner Roshni Dada has more than 153 lakhs followers. Among the males, singing sensation Rito Riba has more than 6 lakhs followers, while digital content creator Monu Deori has more than 5 lakhs followers on Instagram.
The world will never be the same again after Covid-19 pandemic, and neither will social media. With the changing times, the social media hegemony is growing fast and furious. Its impact is far-reaching – especially Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), as they provide users with a niche to garner global audience and interaction.
The media marketers, stars and influencers create more trending and recreational content to attract more consumers on social media. Indeed, social media are platforms of possibilities and opportunities, and one should use them wisely, without letting out their idiotic sense to create chaos and confusion.
