IS TODAY’S YOUNG GENERATION HIDING BEHIND A CYBER VENEER?
As we are entering the world of virtual media, we often find ourselves drifting away from the reality of life. People admire the life of individuals with millions of followers, a life portrayed by the internet. In other words, they are catapulted to virtual celebrity status. This society has decimated the boundaries of city, culture, religion, country, and evolved into a borderless society. In this society, no one is a permanent friend or enemy, relationship status change at a snap and a click. A few minutes ago you are the thickest of the pals sharing everything and anything, the very next minute you’re blocked with all access closed. Emotional attachment is built and destroyed in a moment but what has this led to? On one hand, we have artificial happiness with a sense of false security of having millions of friends and followers. But on the other hand, this has become a major cause of stress and strain leading to mental health problems for many like anxiety, low self-esteem, loneliness, lower life satisfaction, and many more because it has now become an unavoidable part of our lives. The present generation (so-called cyber generation) is the worst affected by the negativities of this society. One of the main reasons is that we are getting deceived by the reality of the veneer world. We are so engrossed in this world that we forget to live and enjoy every moment with our loved ones. Not only do people start comparing their own life to others but forget to appreciate the happy moments in life and neglect the fact that social media is far away from reality. This becomes even more relevant during these times. When the world is facing a huge problem and we are all sitting within our homes, we tend to spend more time on social media (The Economic Times, 2020). Thus, we are at a higher risk to fall prey to the above problems. When in January 2020, Instagram which is one of the world’s leading social media sites decided to hide likes, it stunned many. This shows the impact cyber society has on our lives today. This society is just two decades old and it has already turned into a labyrinthine network of emotions, bliss, and distress. Then what is the way forward, how does the present generation come out of this veneer? Firstly it is important to be cautious about false identities, secondly don’t fall prey, be sure not to trust or form an emotional attachment with someone over the internet before being sure about their identity, and lastly, use this cyber society as a platform for spreading happiness, creativity or uniqueness but not as a stage of comparison. Today the world has changed, along with celebrities across different countries we have Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, youtube celebrities spread over the globe. Different requirements are required for becoming a celebrity in each unique platform, which allows every individual present in any corner of the world to showcase their talent over the internet. In the 21st century, there are different lives in different cities like Instagram with a population of 1 billion (approximately), etc. This is the world today and the future of mankind is going to be borderless, casteless, creedless, faceless, and colorless. The time has come that the present generation is going to show the way to the older generation which are fissured on these lines.
