The consumption of media is consuming our soul- slowly decaying it until we’re left with only concepts of compassion. Believe me, I am speaking from my own experience. There’s addiction is the slow swipes on social media, up and down, ingesting minute bits of info. Unnecessary, completely useless brain rot that atrophies our brain and replace crucial common sense with unfounded conspiracies.

We can state from start to end all the reasons we Hate that little Ginger B or create think pieces on why a random person across the globe who gave you a sneak peak into their life is actually worth hating by thousands, sometimes millions of people. We take these curated seconds, minutes and build whole imaginary ecosystems where each “creator” adds to it until it becomes an undisputed fact. But really social media is fiction and our takes on random videos are equally as rooted in fiction, granted we may be teetering on the line of realistic fiction. Still, ultimately the truth is something we will never be fully privy to.

Then there’s the idealized concept of leaving a 9-5 to be adored by thousand, millions of followers. I remember watching the Truman Show thinking how deplorable it would be to have eyes on me 24/7, watching me in my embarrassing moments, my struggles, my triumphs- completely unaware. While content creation may not be exactly like that- there is still the effect of being watched even when you’ve set the camera down. Your backgrounds zoomed in on, the slight affects of your expression scrutinized, and the rumors created from a grain of truth.

Are you really in control of your narrative? Are you really the one telling your story? Are you perceived as you are, or as people want you to be?

I think the greater concern is has this access to one another contributed to our decay in compassion? Has the swipes up and down, left and right, given us permission to criticize with unabashed, unconfined judgement? Well you did choose to put yourself on this public platform, but did you the consumer also choose to leave your compassion when engaging with the content?

The big question is are the morals and ethics of real life, suspended in the virtual world? And who are you really? How you behave digitally or how you are in the real world? Are they two different identities or do you just have the anonymity to be who you really are deep in your core virtually? And is that a person you are okay with being?