When Social Media Gets 'EXPLOITED'!

 

As recent as five years back, Nepalese artist Nisha Ghimire achieved the biggest goal in her life WHEN she was crowned as Miss Nepal.  Not long after that coronation, she went for a holiday in Dehradun, India and sadly, she got injured in an accident, suffering injuries that were serious enough such that, even after returning to Nepal, she ended up bedridden until she died a few years later.  With due respect and courtesy to the late Nisha Ghimire, I won't publish her pictures just before she succumbed to death💟💟💟

Before I get suspected to sensationalize her tragic end, WHAT's heart-rending is that throughout those months she was bedridden WHILE her family was financially constrained to find the best hospitals to save her life, snippets of information shared is that from time to time, throngs of friends and even people WHOM she hardly recognized as friends would, from time to time, come to 'sort of' visit her, with all the pictures taken here and there.  And expectedly, those pictures would get posted in their social media accounts, garnering tons of LIKEs & HEARTs.  Whewwww!!!  At the expense of the poor hapless Nisha Ghimire!!!  And this is WHEN things become sadder😌😌😌

Before things turn scarier, I'd like to make reference to a study by the American Psychological Association WHO, while acknowledging that everyone of us is vulnerable to the ramifications and implications of social media, hold your breath, the most vulnerable segment are the young brains.  Studies showed that starting at the age of 10, children's brains undergo that fundamental shift that spurs them to seek social rewards [and that includes attention, approval and affirmation especially from their own peers].  NOW, the mother of all ironies is that we adults and parents will even hand them smart phones!@#$%?

NOT to besmirch the leaders in the social media industry BUT the harsh truth is that these social media platforms [e.g. Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat amongst others] have provided crucial opportunities for interaction that are a normal part of development, especially during a time of severe isolation prompted during that dreaded Covid-19 pandemic.  BUT they have also been increasingly linked to mental health issues including anxiety, depression, name it❌❌❌

Our takeaway:  I remember our generation WHERE arriving in school with a pair of new jeans may make heads turn [and even getting the attention of your high school crush] BUT alas, today, it's worlds away from posting a video on TikTok that may get thousands of VIEWs and LIKEs and this part of WHAT makes online interactions so vastly different from in-person ones is their permanent nature.  LIKE after you walk away from a regular conversation, you DON'T know if the other person liked it OR if anyone else liked it, then it's over.  BUT that's NOT true in SOCIAL MEDIA, dude😡😡😡