I was sitting at my
workplace during a small break, I scrolled my Facebook account and burst into
laughter by looking at the post related to an ugly picture of a fat woman who
was tagged as “I am waiting for a smart guy to marry”. 125 comments were there
and more than 100 emoji smileys were posted in response. Within a fraction of
second, my laughter transformed into a deeper thought that how easily we laugh
and comment on others’ imperfections, how pejorative we become while accessing
others and how inhuman we are who laugh on others without looking at ourselves.
We talk about equity and equality but we are still confined and caged in
orthodox opinions about skin colour, gender, caste, and religion.
One weird comment on our post or profile pic makes us so annoyed and we
block the spectator then & there only and on the other side, we become
peculiar and pejorative while commenting on others, even sometimes they are not
in our friends’ list too.
It has become a
trend to show our anger through caricatures of our teachers, bosses and even
parents too. Political parties are also using it widely to enrich their vote
bank without giving a second thought that it’s spoiling our youth’s language
and defeats the purpose of attaining democracy. We generally forget profane
written words are more hurting as compared to spoken words. Written words leave
the long-lasting impact on readers’ mind and on the viewer’s mind as well. We
become too vocal when we protest about bullying in school and colleges but we never
think that it is also a type of bullying when we become sarcastic about others
and hurt them emotionally and mentally. This is an irony in today’s scenario
that it’s an easy task to defame and criticise others but very difficult to
appreciate them for their qualities.
Social Media is a
platform for connecting people rather than creating a sense of discrimination
or making someone feel disheartened or annoyed. While posting on social media,
we must take care of the following points: -
· Never post in anger. Count
up to 10. Go for a walk. Take a deep breath. Just make sure the anger passes
before you publish a word.
· Check your facts. If you want to
publicly claim something is true, confirm the facts through an authentic source
before you post.
· Make your context
clear. What you see as an obvious exaggeration may be insulting to someone
else.
· Be careful with
hashtags. Adding “#crook” may strike you as funny, but you can’t be
sure everyone will take it as a joke.
· Avoid modifying
photos and videos. Images can be defamatory too, so don’t alter them to make someone look
bad.
You may be right in your opinion based on the facts
better known to you, it is still wiser to take a deep breath and think twice
before responding.
We are humans, so we must behave like humans and
maintain the dignity of all. Let’s spread the feeling of happiness,
brotherhood, nationalism, and equality through sharing our thoughts and make the
world more beautiful and a happier place to live in.
Nidhi Dewan
HOD (IT)
THE MANN SCHOOL
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