Skip to main content

Not So Social: The Dark Side of Social Media and Millennial Mindset


Why does social media feel like a double-edged sword for so many of us? We all face challenges with social media, yet its pull remains irresistible.

The root cause lies in a major ideological shift that emerged alongside the technological revolution around the millennium. Millennials — those who grew up in the 2000s — witnessed innovation shaking traditional norms. They admired thinkers, leaders, and anyone who dared to challenge the status quo.
A defining belief for this generation was that “everyone is special.” This fueled a desire for recognition and a platform to showcase unique talents. Millennials became known for breaking rules and injecting fresh energy and creativity, though often at the cost of personal burnout.

Conversely, discipline and conventional thinking hold subtle advantages. Sure, the chance of becoming super famous is slim, but the risk of failure is also low, akin to a safe investment. However, millennials tend to reject this conservative path.
These societal shifts naturally called for a stage to exhibit talents — a marketplace of showmanship. Social media perfectly fits that role. But here lies the problem. Talent drives the social media ecosystem, where everyone is a seller and few are buyers. Without regulation or agreed-upon standards, everyone believes their content deserves attention. This breeds trolling, hate speech, meaningless pranks, and more.

Social media is increasingly becoming a dangerous place, flooded with what many would label “garbage.” Yet, can we truly blame these creators? They genuinely believe their content is talent, and convincing them otherwise is almost impossible. Understanding this dynamic is crucial. Social media reflects not just how we connect, but the deep-seated ideological shifts in how we value recognition, talent, and success today. Are we ready to rethink how we engage with this digital marketplace—and perhaps demand more from it?

Popular posts from this blog

Birth of a flood - a poet's admire of rain

The sky is almost dark, save for those last golden tinges that would fade in no time. As palm trees mark the oblivion, a muddy reflection forms the ground. The last few days were mostly rainy. So profound is our love for rain. And why wouldn't we? Unlike most other seasons, rain is so tender. A drop of patience which is about to reach its final destiny. Every time I look at raindrops, they remind me of a struggle. A journey that begins with summer in an aura of dry and burning heat. And in no time, the drop loses its sources. The long-held identity of its mother. With the loss of identity, an awakening awaits. The pleasure of reaching out and bonding. As our drop moves up and up the end of the sky, it realises the futility of pride and the necessity to bond. This comes with age. Not until it is near Earth does it agree to meet with other wanderers of the new world. And finally, all our drops reach the cold atmosphere. The coldness makes life dreary and lonely. As the youthfulne...
dive in...

Turning back from pull to push

Two recent campaigns deserve attention from marketing enthusiasts, one of Campa Cola (reenergised by the Reliance Group) and of Tata Sampann's species. The challenges these two brands face are too distinct from one another. Campa, on the one hand, aims to fight the global brands like Pepsi and Coca-Cola, whereas Sampann looks to create a market in indian spices that has been dominated by local players like MDH and Everest. However, their strategies have something in common: getting the distributors to stock more of their products on the shelves. Campa is offering the distributors twice the margins, while Sampann is leveraging its vast portfolio to make stocking only Tata products a win for the distributors. Image credit: Economic Times To understand why this is happening, and what makes this interesting, one has to look back on the history of marketing, more specifically the shift from a push to a pull-based marketing, where the focus of the brands shifted from pushing their produc...
dive in...

Politics of Perpetuity

There are obvious downsides to democracy. When we look at the distribution of opinion on a particular issue, it generally follows a normal distribution. This implies that to achieve the majority, it's theoretically advised to stick to the centre. And this love for mediocrity makes democracy allergic to politically solid decisions.  Along with it, democracies tend to be the rooster for sweet talkers. And that is an outcome rather than a voluntary trait. Primarily because most voters need to be equipped to deal with the complexities of the field. For example, it could be more practical for an electrical engineer to comprehend medical patterns and the pandemic's effect on production. Thus, democratic institutions need people managers who have two keywords to watch out for - sweet talking and status quo. However, democracies have been hugely popular. And people have reported being happier. Whether this is induced, indoctrinated or influenced is another question. But history has cho...
dive in...