LESS CONNECTION, MORE CONSUMPTION

Remember how just a couple of years ago, social media was the place to check out your office folks or keep tabs on our friends, see their holiday photos, or post pictures from your own wedding?

- ANINDITA ACHARYA

Remember how just a couple of years ago, social media was the place to check out your office folks or keep tabs on our friends, see their holiday photos, or post pictures from your own wedding? It was all about sharing life updates with friends and family. Then came the rise of influencers. Things still felt fun, but you could tell that brands were creeping in. Slowly, every business felt the pressure to be online. Big companies were all trying to go viral. As marketing money poured in, the original vibe of social media, connecting with people, started fading. The platforms now decide what you should see, with endless posts and reels meant to hijack your attention. And even though we're online more than ever (the average person spends nearly 2.5 hours daily on social media), we're not really talking to each other anymore. It's more about influencers, trends, and entertainment than actual conversations.

Let's be honest. Can you really stop at just one reel? Of course not. The algorithm knows exactly what will keep you hooked, and it doesn't let you go. That's why brands today are more focused on churning out content than building a genuine community. Even Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg admitted during Meta's antitrust trial that things have changed. Data backs it up too. On Facebook, time spent talking to friends has dropped from 22% to 17%, and on Instagram, it's gone from 11% to just 7% in only two years.