Reality Bites: A Humorous and Honest Look at Life in the 21st Century

SOCIAL MEDIA: Trap or Freedom?

Chapter 4-Social Media: Trap or Freedom

"It's hard to predict whether social media is a beautiful feather of revolution or simply a golden cage."

Imagine you somehow teleported to a mythological place where everything seems fascinating, but there is no surety if it's safe or not. You continue exploring it and find a cave more interesting than other things you saw. Curiosity leads you to enter that cave; rocks of the cave are shining like a galaxy, and the smell is like lavender petals. 

Now you are lost in that cave; you couldn't find an ending or a starting point, but you get distracted by the beauty of the mystical cave, forgetting about your real goal of getting out. In the end, suffocation ends the chapter of your life. 

This POV is an exact reflection of social media: people get distracted by the content others provide. It's not that they want to, but it's how it is when their inner desire heats up. They love it. They become lost in the world of social media, just like a mystical cave, and in the end, they become NOTHING. Many of you might oppose the word "NOTHING," but isn't it like that?

In one classroom, there are many students, but only one tops. Why? Is it because he/she has more than 24 hours? Do they have a magical gadget like their own personal AI? No, right? There is only one thing that makes them different from others: their personal desire. They don't get lost in that cave; instead, they find the end of the cave and succeed in getting free. Others are so lost in that trap that they end up scoring lower than the topper in the end.

Social media is not always a distraction but can also be an inspiration. All you need to do is explore the side of social media that helps you improve yourself. You don't have to get lost in the cave; instead, use it as a shelter in a storm.

 Social media provides many useful things for our youth. Platforms like YouTube have creators who teach you from basic to advanced levels. You can take advantage of it, and who knows, maybe you can top your class like that nerd. AI is in demand; you can learn it and earn money. Or if you doubt yourself, lose confidence, or have many insecurities, you can seek help too. 

There are motivational speakers who understand your situation and help you regain your best self. Everything that can help you walk faster than others or make you unique is already present in social media; you should have enough knowledge to utilize it.

There will be lots of difficulties in your life. I can understand that. If you are too hard on yourself, take a break. You can use social media, but for a certain restricted time period. You have the right to laugh; your smile is amazing. Entertaining content is fine for you, but don't get too attached to it. Remember, you have a life; you are the main lead of your world. Work so hard that everyone out there who once laughed at you fears you the most. You have to become the strongest warrior of that mythological place, and for that, you must not get distracted by the beauty of the hypnotizing cave.

You might have wondered if there is a neutral side of social media or not. So, the answer is yes, there is a side of social media that is neither encouraging nor distracting. Individuals express their opinions, and it's up to us whether we should run away from it or take it and learn from it. Confused, right? Let's take an example: suppose a person is saying that our defense system needs to modernize equipment and allot more cadets. 

By chance, your dream is to serve the country in the military, and you succeed, being allotted as a major of your battalion.

 That person's words always stay in your mind, and as a result, you talk with higher generals, and it's decided to update the equipment. 

Isn't it amazing? Because of that one incident, there is a better atmosphere.

 Now, imagine there were people who disagreed with her opinion. It's their choice; they run away from it, and you take it and learn from it. This is the neutral side of social media.

When I was doing rough work for this chapter, there was one more point in my mind: the influence of social media. But when I thought about it deeply, it made me realize that we are all influenced at some point in life. It's not because of social media, but because humans are meant to learn from others. 

I myself am influenced by the turns of life that decided to write a book so that others are prepared in advance. In early times, when one person makes a wheel, it makes others desire to create an advancement in the wheel.

 That's how life is; we watch, we learn, we practice. But it also has two sides: some of us are influenced by good things like helping others, planting trees, etc., while others are inspired by sinful actions like crime, smoking, etc. Whether it's good or bad, in the end, we get repaid. Good influencing maintains our inner peace, and bad influencing can lead to jail. It's always up to us, but there's no denying that we do what we learn, and we learn from what we watch.

We can't decide whether social media is helpful or harmful. "It's hard to predict whether social media is a beautiful feather of revolution or simply a golden cage". Without using social platforms, the topper is still a topper. Using social media for improvement is up to a certain soul. Getting distracted and becoming NOTHING is the choice of a loser, and using social media for a short amount of time to take a break is up to hard workers. Everything is connected in the end: loser, hard worker, topper, or hopeless soul. They are getting what they sow in the field of life.

It's all up to us. 

This is reality, whether it's bitter or sweet. 

It's the fruit of our actions, only for us."