From the trend of supporting Bollywood stars to criticizing them, ignoring the South Indian film industry to being crazy about it, creating videos on TikTok to making reels on Instagram and shorts on YouTube, showcasing how distasteful TikTok was, from being cool atheists to now embracing new theism, and many more shifts, this generation on social media seems to have lost their minds and common sense, all in the pursuit of appearing cool, seeking attention, and fitting in online.
This new generation of social media users is essentially proving that wherever there’s a trend, we, “The Alpha-sigma-Gama-Beta, whatever it is, People,” will be there.
Trend of Feminism
Do you remember the time when social media was flooded with the trend of feminism and supporting it? At that time, everybody had become feminists. Then, there came a trend of calling out fake feminism, and suddenly, the “cool” people on the internet started labeling everything as fake feminism, even if a woman was just breathing independently.
Then, there was a trend where men started demanding that if there is equality, and if women can work like men, then there should be no special reservations for them. They argued that women should not get seats on priority in public places because that is what equality means. However, these same men refused to do household chores in the name of equality.
Now, there is a trend of insulting women, with those who do so being called “alpha males” and becoming “cool.” These same people will likely start fighting for women’s rights when it becomes a trend again.
The question is, where is the brain of this generation? This is not just a problem of Gen Z; it has become common among all social media users that they have forgotten about common sense.
Trend of being Theist
Then there was a time when people considered believers in God and theists to be shameful and backward. They deemed wearing a tilak as orthodox and equated being orthodox with illiteracy and underdeveloped intellect. It seemed like everybody was questioning the existence of God. However, mainly a particular community viewed believing in that community and celebrating its festivals as signs of a backward mentality.
Then, a trend emerged of proudly wearing the tilak, identifying as Hindu with pride, and engaging in prayers and visits to temples and pilgrimages, which became the new cool. It’s a relief that this trend emerged, as it encouraged people in India to embrace the culture that has prevailed since ancient times.
But the concern is what if another trend emerges and again starts opposing the religion and these same people starts following that trend? Then how will the country’s rich culture be preserved with such youth? This raises concerns about whether this generation of social media users is truly using their brain or merely following the trends to appear cool.
Bollywood and South
Then there was a trend of idolizing Bollywood stars as gods, while completely overlooking the value of the South Indian film industry. However, with time, some people began to recognize the beauty of the South Indian industry and also became aware of certain negative trends within Bollywood.
But unfortunately, instead of addressing these realizations constructively, they too became a new trend for social media users to appear cool. This trend became so extreme that they created new idols out of South Indian stars, completely ignoring the fact that even within the South Indian industry, there can be issues.
This is concerning because if people fail to understand the nuances, there may come a time when a single statement from a South Indian star could potentially shape the narrative of the entire country, similar to what has happened with Bollywood stars.
Short Videos
Do you remember TikTok? There was a time when the trend of making TikTok videos swept through the entire nation. People were crazy about creating TikTok content. However, for various reasons, YouTubers began criticizing TikTokers, and over time, especially after the ban on TikTok, the whole nation started to see it as “cool” to criticize TikTok, even if they themselves had previously made TikTok videos.
And there are many more examples like these. The issue isn’t about whether these trends are right or wrong, but rather, where has common sense gone? Why is this generation losing the basic human ability of decision-making, using common sense, and forming independent opinions? Why is this generation flowing with the trend, just to sound cool?
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