DEAR SOCIAL MEDIA, WHY SO TOXIC?
Of late, there has been a lot of talk about social media toxicity that affects one’s mental well being. In fact, many Bollywood celebs, such as actors Sonakshi Sinha, Aayush Sharma and Saqib Saleem have quit Twitter owing to this negativity. The one aspect which needs attention is also how all of these things — trolling, threats, pressure to say the right thing, post the right picture — can get to someone emotionally.
Actor Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub agrees that social media is a major problem, even if it has its advantages. “When it comes to actors, it gets amplified. How many likes you’re getting on your posts or pictures? How famous are you? Ajeeb sa ek competitition baar baar banane mein lage rehte hain. There’s definitely lot of negativity, and people also become dependent on a good message to feel better when they’re low. So, social media isn’t a good place for our mental health. I’ve have seen people go into depression when they don’t get likes or followers,” he shares.
Given the ongoing pandemic, everyone is going through a tough time, both physically and mentally. And therefore, actor Bidita Bag feels most people have extreme opinions, and there’s no common ground where anyone talks logic.
“Everybody is emotionally frustrated. I took a month off from all forms of social media, and came back only a couple of days back. These days, I don’t give out my opinion, because
I’ve understood my opinion isn’t going to change the world,” she adds.
For actors, the pressure grows manifold, and so does the risk of attracting negative elements. Adah Sharma explains, “I guess when one takes up a profession where you’re constantly judged and seek validation from others, you have to train your mind to be strong. Be confident about yourself and the person you choose to be, and this negativity will not affect you as much. I’m one of the fortunate people who has more positivity than negativity though.”
Among many others, Barkha Sengupta believes that social media isn’t one of the greatest things that have happened to the current generation. She elaborates, “It has given a voice to people who don’t really know what they’re talking about; they’re not empathetic enough. Just because we’re actors, doesn’t mean we’re public property. They will also say things about people related to me. I’m an actor, but my whole family,
Rishabh Suri
“They aren’t getting paid as they’re all freelancers... A lot of apartments in Mumbai are so small, and people have had to live there 24/7 for four months, without work or rent. How the future will be is a big question mark,” says Pannu, adding that all this will definitely affect people’s mental state negatively.
Now that many have resumed work, the actor at times, gets involved in this. That’s not nice. There’s no controlling it. I ignore it; some people fight back and argue, but I don’t think it would get you anywhere.”
Ayyub, like Bag, also went on social media detox to refresh his mind. And he still makes sure that he doesn’t spend too much time on any of the platforms.
“The negative part of it used to affect me a lot in the beginning, especially the language people would use. Now, even though I don’t get affected consciously, unconsciously it must affect some. In the lockdown, I went off it for 10 days. After that, I keep a balance, and don’t keep scrolling up and down,” the 37year-old tells us.
Rishabh Suri
MEERA CHOPRA ACTOR
hopes that people will soon be able to move beyond this crisis.
“I guess in a few years from now, we will look back at it and say, ‘One more test of life was passed’. I really try not to mull over the past too much. That’s why I just see it as getting some time for myself or to relax and pause a bit, and move ahead,” she shares.
Actor Meera Chopra recently raised her voice against the online bullying she faced at the hands of a popular Telugu actor’s fans who sent her death threats. But what she rues is that even after she brought it to the notice of the social media platform, no action was taken.
“It’s a very toxic culture. People who troll and abuse don’t have faces or names, just random display pictures. They think abusing somebody or threatening them doesn’t affect [them]. The worst part is, the entire system is not doing anything about it. I tweeted again recently that rape or death threats have become a normal thing. But the platform I was abused on, Twitter, didn’t do anything about those profiles,” reveals the 37-year-old.
The whole exercise, she adds, went in vain. Chopra says that after actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, there’s a “certain craziness happening” and even if one tweets anything positive, they get trolled and abused.
“So many celebrities have left Twitter. Even I wanted to quit at one point of time,” she reveals, adding, “This pandemic has already made us vulnerable; people are sitting jobless in their houses. We’re motivating ourselves to keep our sanity intact. And then you have these people spreading so much negativity. We don’t need it.”
Chopra had also written to Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Information and Broadcasting , urging him to put a strict protocol in place.
Mental health issues aren’t just a phase that you talk about, see a therapist, take medicines and consider it cured. Anyone going through it needs love. It’s not a rich people problem. So, let’s reach out to everyone around. Even a phone call helps.
“If a particular account on social media indulges in abuse, you need to give them a warning. If they do it three times, some action should be taken. And such kind of people shouldn’t be able to make another ID,” says Chopra.
Recalling how this trolling also affects one’s family and loved ones, she reveals that her parents didn’t want her to return to Mumbai at one point. “When I was threatened by Jr NTR’s fans, I was told they’re fanatics. There was a case in 2015 where one fan group of his had murdered a fan of actor Pawan Kalyan. My parents told me I’m not going anywhere, not even Mumbai, as they feared something would happen to me. So, it affects our family, too,” she concludes.
Amid all the debates actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s demise triggered, concern over mental health also received intense attention. While many actors shared their story of dealing with depression or a low phase in life, there are still many who don’t want to talk about this issue in open. And that’s because of the
Shreya Mukherjee
We’ve been using the term depression loosely; I’m guilty of it, too. Depression is a clinical problem and needs professional help. We should be taught about mental health in school. When we start understanding about it early on, we are equipped to face it better when things go south.
These stigmas are created by us. Don’t we all go through ups and downs? Don’t mock people’s mental state by saying, ‘He couldn’t handle this simple thing’, or ‘We should stay away from such people’. When I went certain though things in life, if my loved ones behaved like that, I would’ve been devastated. We need to offer support. Many people hide such issues because they feel it might affect their professional life. So, never make them feel deprived of work.