Believe me, I don’t hate smartphones, social media or the Internet. But I think we should be a little bit more self-aware about what it’s doing to all of us.
I’m not a naysayer. I’m not being skeptical about something that hasn’t happened yet. It’s already happened. We’re all hooked to our devices, to social media and to the Internet.
And that’s not fake news.
I’m not telling you to abandon smartphone use or abstain from social media engagement. I’m not telling you never to use the Internet. All I’m saying is that you should take a moment to think about what your phone is doing to you.
Do you still have conversations with your partner? Or are you both competing for the Scroll King & Queen? Do you still pay attention to what your children tell you? Or do you snap because you don’t want to be disturbed from your scrolling?
How long do you sit on the toilet seat? Oh no. There it is—the dreaded question. Do you know that sitting for long periods of time on the toilet seat (due to endless scrolling) causes piles? Yes, that’s the nicer name for the nastier version called hemorrhoids.
But endless scrolling won’t just give you hemorrhoids, it will also give you brain atrophy. That’s also the nicer name for the nastier version called brain rot. Look it up. I don’t say this in jest.
Now, everyone wants to be a digital creator. Well, who does not want to earn loads of money? Does this mean that kids don’t need to go to school anymore?
There is no value to a degree. I disagree. Because the value lies not in the degree but in the education gained in the pursuit of that degree.
Yes, you don’t need a degree to make money but education should not be looked upon only as a means to climb the social and economic ladder. Education should be seen as an essential life experience that develops not just literacy but critical thinking, multi-disciplinary appreciation, communication, emotional resilience and intellectual freedom.
The ultimate goal of education is to free us from ignorance, superstition and manipulation so that we can make better choices in life.
So, if you want to be a digital creator, go ahead. But don’t abandon your education because you think you don’t need it. You can make money without it but money is not everything. As you can probably see for yourself—not all people with money have taste, wisdom, erudition or breeding.
The corporate slaves of my time have been replaced by clout chasers.
Now, we don’t care about the facts. We care about the following. We don’t care for the truth. We care about the views. If that is not tragic, I don’t know what is.
Virality cannot be the barometer for success because the same cyber mob who can cause your virality can also cause your cancellation overnight.
We do what sells, not what is right, ethical or moral. We do what makes our wallets fatter without regard for the harm or danger the content we put out may bring others. Metrics over morals. Is this really how we should earn a living? Is this how we should live?
People are completely desensitized to the fact that social media is dictating our norms, destroying our children and ruining our relationships. It’s slowly killing humanity.
Maybe it’s just me. But maybe, one day, you’ll look back to this day and realize I wasn’t a conspiracy theorist, after all.
Let it never be said that I never tried to warn you. I’m not a hater. I’m not a naysayer. I just say it as it is. Let it never be said that I never tried to warn you about falling down the rabbit hole.
I’m already there. But, at least, I know. Do you?