Living In An Era Of Physical Trust Vs Digital Distrust

Digital apps have two avatars-one functional & convenience- oriented, the other cosmetic & social. Attitudes towards these influence the larger tussle between the physical and the virtual

- HARISH BIJOOR

WE live in a polarised era. At one end there is trust, and at the other its extreme opposite, distrust. There is nothing in between. All of society is gradually moving to an extreme end of this binary. While some of us believe that we live somewhere on the Plimsoll line of this belief, the truth is that we forever sway towards one extreme or the other.

Take one key issue staring at us every single day. We live in digital times. I pay my phone bill digitally, I order food and grocery digitally, just as I book my movie tickets digitally. Digital convenience is something all of us take for granted. If the server of my electricity company is disrupted for a few days and I can't pay online anymore, I am disgruntled. As I am now. Digital and all the convenience it offers are taken for granted. These are all digital conveniences that are trusted and respected for what they do.

At the other end is a whole host of other things we take for granted as well. It is the daily news feed I get on my phone, the social media connections that add zing to my otherwise placid life, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Threads and more. It is, equally, Tinder, Bumble and TrulyMadly. Social media is the new virtual connect to the world outside. A medium that helps me broadcast, like, follow and repost for the ostensible benefit of others.