Social media is a double-edged sword. While on the one hand, it can be a great tool of self-expression, creativity and connection. On the other hand, it is also a breeding ground for bullying and toxicity, as the anonymity of the internet gives power to trolls, who don’t think twice before writing something vile and hurtful.
Celebrities are often at the receiving end of social media hate. They’re either called out for staying silent on an issue but not posting about it, or labelled ‘superficial’ or ‘performative’ when they do post about a current social issue.
Late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s sudden and tragic death fueled myriad of celeb reactions on twitter. But it seems like nothing can please the keyboard warriors. Those who posted tributes were called out for being ‘fake’ and bullied to no end, leading to a lot of A-listers limiting or deactivating the comments section. People who were close to Sushant, including actor Kriti Sanon, chose not to post immediately after hearing such shocking news. They were harassed and bullied for being ‘heartless’ owing to their silence. But when did posting on social media become the pre-requisite for caring about someone?
Kriti Sanon broke her silence a few days later, and took to social media to condemn its toxicity. “Social media is the FAKEST, most toxic place.. if you haven’t posted RIP or said something publicly, you’re considered not to be,” she wrote. Ironically, she got hate on that post too. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, right?
Well, it seems like some celebrities have reached the tipping point, and have decided to quit social media to avoid unwanted negativity. On Saturday, as many as five actors deleted their accounts, citing’ toxicity’ as the reason.
One of them included actor Sonakshi Sinha, who deactivated her twitter account. “The first step to protecting your sanity is to stay away from negativity. And no where more of that than twitter these days!” she posted on her Instagram account, which still seems to be active.
Well, it seems like Sonakshi isn’t the only one who’s been pushed over the edge when it comes to social media. A week ago, filmmaker Shashank Khaitan also deactivated his Twitter account. Director Karan Johar, who has always been very active on social media, decided to unfollow everyone on Twitter, except eight handles. Actor Sonam Kapoor, who has also been attacked on social media, has disabled people from tagging her in posts on Instagram.
Actors Aayush Sharma and Zaheer Iqbal have also decided to bid adieu to the toxicity of social media.
It is unfortunate that cyberbullying has caused so much distressed to celebrities that they have decided to quit certain social media platforms altogether. The next time you decide to leave your ‘opinion’ on a celebrity’s social media page, remember that the person at the receiving end of your comment is also a human being. Being in the public eye does not mean that they have signed up for constant judgement and hate.
Social media is a brilliant tool, how about we use it to spread positivity?
Featured Image: Instagram
