Social Relationship

 Social Relationship

The visionary multi-billionaire, ironically also the owner of X (formerly known as Twitter), says "I think there should be regulations on social media to the degree that it negatively affects the public good", and I suppose the allegedly new features of paying to like and retweet on X are in line with what he thinks? Maybe, Maybe not. The point is that even the best of the best people and world leaders think that social media harms public health, in more aspects than we can possibly imagine. 

The title of this article is Social Relationship and it's going to be an attempt to realize how f-ed up we all really are, thanks to social media, but more importantly, Instagram. Studies have connected loneliness, melancholy, and anxiety to problematic Instagram use (PIU). According to a 2017 study, Instagram is the social media site that has the greatest potential to negatively impact young people's mental health and is the most likely to make them feel hopeless and unhappy. And we all know this to be true, don't we?

I have massive respect for the people who practice digital detox, I wish I could be one of them yeah (Yes I know that I can, but I can't, but I can, you know...). It is no surprise that Meta is probably recording everything we do, our conversations, our chats, every single thing because minutes after a conversation about 'Relationship troubles' with your best friend on WhatsApp, you'll find posts about "10 signs he's not the one for you" on Instagram. Coincidence? I think not. 

I think these social media apps try to pry into the mental state of their users to indirectly guide what a person is going to do next. The "third party" in most relationships these days is Instagram, not a person. 

Even if a relationship is going perfectly well, Instagram stories of THAT couple (Not Tom Holland and Zendaya, god bless them) always make you feel like your relationship is inadequate or that something is missing. Are we so weak-minded that Instagram posts are what influence what we do in our relationships? I cannot emphasize how serious a threat this is, but it is real, you know it, or at least I hope you do. 

When I couldn't understand what I truly felt for someone, I very conveniently convinced myself that I was in love? Thanks to "5 signs she's the one for you". Somehow again it was these same Instagram posts that made me believe I'm out of love? I normally wouldn't use my own example and embarrass myself, but it seemed important here. 

How dare we let social media apps dictate what we do in and with our lives? It's not just a romantic relationship that gets affected, it's also friendships, relationships with your parents and so much more. How dare we let Instagram dictate who is and isn't worthy of staying in our lives? How dare we allow mere relatability to a surface-level emotion drive what we do next?

I am not saying Instagram is bad, or it has only negative sides to how it affects a relationship but that really does seem to be the bigger problem here. We're going through everyday life, laughing at relationship trauma, saying "us moment" and moving on, instead of fixing what needs to be fixed. 

There are a lot of good Instagram pages that help with one's mental health and stability, or maybe just great quotes, one of them is @greatest.advice. Check it out! (How I wish this was a paid promotion lol)

Just to end on a funny note, have a look at this

Source: Quora 

By Dev Barot.