I MIGHT DEACTIVATE MY ACCOUNT, IF NECESSARY

Shreya Mukherjee

Calling it his way of “social media detox”, actor Shashank Vyas recently unfollowed everyone on Instagram and shared it with his followers through an Insta story. “To my friends and family, I am ALWAYS a phone call away. And to those I unfollowed, please don’t take my action otherwise. Be kind and spread positivity,” he wrote.

Amid so much social media toxicity, Vyas wanted to distance himself from the unnecessary information available online. “Our brain is occupied with the present crisis. I felt it’s time I focused on my thoughts and not on what’s happening in everyone else’s life. If necessary, I might even deactivate my account,” says the actor.

Outlining the duality of social media, Vyas, 33, calls for nurturing relations in the real world. “The fact that we check on each other via social media does bothers me. The other day, I called some seven people that I know and when I started talking to them, I realised their state of mind is different from their posts,” he says, urging everyone to talk to each other. “Baat karo ek dusre se, like karne se responsibility khatam nahi ho jaati,” he adds.

Perturbed by different narratives being peddled around actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, Vyas raises some pertinent points. “When Sonchiriya (2019) released, how many went for first day, first show? Agar log jaate toh film chalti. Not to forget, when Sushant was alive, there were many negative comments against him. You’ve to understand some people are sensitive and we need to be sympathetic…,” he explains.