Letters to The EDITOR: Social media addiction

Social media addiction

Through the columns of your esteemed newspaper, I would like to draw the attention of the public and the concerned authorities to the growing problem of social media addiction among young people.

Social media has become an important part of our daily lives. It has both positive and negative effects. On the positive side, students use social media to study, learn new skills, and express their creativity on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. However, excessive use of social media can have serious consequences.

Many people use social media for work or education, but they often become so addicted that they lose touch with the real world. This addiction often starts at home, where busy parents frequently give their mobile phones to their children to keep them occupied. Later, after returning from work, many parents themselves spend their spare time scrolling through their phones instead of spending quality time with their children. As a result, children feel lonely and gradually drift away from their parents.

Moreover, many students spend hours scrolling through social media or playing online games. This keeps them away from real-life experiences. When they face real-world challenges, they often become anxious, develop self-doubt, and struggle with low self-esteem.

Although the internet has made the world a global village and provides access to endless information, it also exposes young people to unrealistic lifestyles portrayed by influencers. Constant comparison with others can lead to self-doubt, anxiety, and depression. In severe cases, these mental health issues may even drive some young people to take the extreme step of ending their lives.

Therefore, I urge the concerned authorities, educational institutions, parents, and society as a whole to promote responsible use of social media, spread awareness about digital well-being, and encourage young people to maintain a healthy balance between the virtual and real world.

I hope this issue receives the attention it deserves so that our youth can use technology wisely and lead healthier, more balanced lives.

 Sukanya Bora

Jorhat, Assam

A new world

With the advent of mobile phones and social media connectivity, we are lost in a world where virtuality is mistaken for reality. Exhausted with the ordeals of life, we have found rescue inside something where comparison, competition and noise are already amplified. Yes, we have reached a point where an algorithm is now deciding our behaviour, choices and thinking. Everyone is living a dual life today. One in real life, the other in the apps.

Our perceptions about things, persons or incidents are shaped by the appreciation, criticism and ratings they receive on social media. Social media decides the approbation and disapprobation of a particular trend. Nothing has remained personal today. Every quotidian activity, be it cooking, eating or shopping, is uploaded to Facebook for others' opinions. Without a display nothing is complete. Picnics and travel do not end at the destination spot. They travel to Instagram and WhatsApp. Instead of remaining in our memory, these experiences are transformed into reels. Video recording of the tours has become more important than enjoying the journey.

Blocks are not limited to WhatsApp alone. They continue in real life too. Years of friendship break on a single comment. Trust collapse over a single post. Charity is videographed more than bestowed. We have inflated our virtual selves to such an extent that if our shared views do not get support on social media, we deem them to be wrong and doubt ourselves. Our psychology has morphed in such a way that we have become completely dependent on others' opinions. Unless others judge us and give few comments on Facebook, we cannot come to any conclusion today. A car bought, a house shifted or a new dress worn, each one is incomplete until emojis are bombarded on their post. We roam inside the screens, searching for what we ourselves don't know.

Life has ceased to exist in the real world. It is now found more in virtual platforms. Every post gets hundreds of emojis, yet one cannot guarantee whether emotions behind them are real. We are connected with everyone, yet we are alone. Inside the mobile screen we are together; once the data is turned off, we are single again. We have opened everything to public scrutiny without realising how much it can affect us. Rather than knowing a person in reality, we judge him through his Facebook posts. We try to reform ourselves from the opinions on social media, not from our self-perception. We take our personal misunderstandings to Facebook and make them a public debate, revealing the fact that "virality" has become more important to us than finding a solution. Rather than building our wisdom through knowledge and education, we are using AI to beautify our faces on screens. It is not what we are from within; it is how we look from outside that has become vital for us.

Everyone wants to become a leader. And why not? Today anyone with 3000 followers on social media can amplify a cause as powerfully as a party chief. The number of followers on Instagram describes our influence. One with a million subscribers is no less than a celebrity. Rather than waiting for courts to deliver verdicts, we prefer hashtag movements to bring about the outcomes of incidents. We want to be heard without listening. This is not change. It is a surrender of patience and reasoning to digital speed and scale.

Technology has brought shopping malls and restaurants to our doorstep. But we have lost the joy of physically bargaining and dining at fast food restaurants. Without the mobile phones, we feel insecure. In the pursuit of happiness, we have bought stress. We know each other on social media. But the virtual connection lacks emotional attachment. Even though we live in the same room, we still feel emotionally distant from each other. This is not the world it used to be. It has turned into something else, which human beings have never longed for.

Kabir Ahmed Saikia

Rajabari, Jorhat

Warning signals of nature

Wayne Gerard Trontman says, "Nature has a myriad of weapons to combat human arrogance."

The killing of natural beauty is the resultant of natural and man-made disasters. We human beings prioritise man-made beauty over natural beauty, which leads to the destruction of forests and other natural features such as lakes, rivers, and seas. The recent deluge in Arunachal Pradesh, following a cloudburst, should not be viewed as an isolated incident. Rather, it serves as a serious warning of the environmental challenges that the region may face in the coming years. Extreme weather events such as cloudbursts, flash floods, and landslides are becoming more frequent in the Himalayan region. The increasing construction of large dams on rivers has raised concerns among environmentalists, scientists, and local communities about their possible impact on fragile mountain ecosystems.

 A cloudburst is a natural phenomenon in which a large amount of rain falls over a small area within a very short period. It occurs when warm, moisture-laden air rises rapidly, cools, and condenses into heavy rainfall. Mountainous regions are particularly vulnerable because their terrain forces moist air upward, increasing the likelihood of intense precipitation. Historically, cloudbursts in Arunachal Pradesh were relatively rare. However, recently, reports of such events have become more common, often resulting in devastating flash floods and landslides.

One concern often raised is the role of large hydropower dams in altering local environmental conditions. Massive reservoirs store enormous quantities of water, and evaporation from these reservoirs can increase humidity in nearby areas. Some experts suggest that such changes may influence local weather patterns, although the exact relationship between dams and cloudbursts remains a subject of scientific debate. Nevertheless, there is little doubt that large reservoirs can affect the surrounding environment in various ways.

Another major issue arises when dams receive excessive inflows following heavy rainfall or cloudbursts. To ensure the safety of the dam structure, authorities may have to release large amounts of water. Such sudden releases can contribute to flooding in downstream areas, causing damage to homes, farmland, infrastructure, and livelihoods. Communities living along riverbanks often bear the greatest burden of these disasters.

I truly believe that the demand for energy is increasing day by day. To fulfil that demand, if more dams are planned and constructed in Arunachal Pradesh or any part of the country, it becomes a serious concern, and issues about environmental safety and disaster management become increasingly important. Balancing development and energy generation with environmental protection and public safety is essential for economic growth. The Himalayan region is ecologically sensitive, and any large-scale intervention should be carefully evaluated for its long-term consequences.

Therefore, the recent disaster is a warning signal for both present and future generations of our entire northeast region. Policymakers should think seriously and consider expanding safer and more sustainable sources of renewable energy, such as solar, wind, and other emerging technologies. The alternatives, which I have stated, generally have a lower environmental impact (minimal or negligible damage) and do not create the risk of downstream flooding associated with large reservoirs.

Protecting human lives, biodiversity, and the natural balance of the region should be a national priority. A development model that emphasises sustainable energy, environmental conservation, and disaster resilience will better serve the people of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and the entire region of the country. We learnt a great lesson from recent floods. So, nature reminds us that if we do not care for nature and its beautiful creatures, nature will penalise us every time for our wrongful activities.

Indrajit Sarma

Dibrugarh