The Internet by Aysha Ajilan

People frequently wonder whether a situation is a blessing or a curse. The general consensus in the world is that anything can be a blessing or a curse, depending entirely on how people deal with it. I do believe in it to a certain extent. Being kind and compassionate can be both a blessing and a curse. What makes it a curse, exactly? It is a curse when applied to a criminal. Love may bring blessings or curses. If your love prevents you from leaving a toxic relationship, it's a curse. Anger could be both too. How is that a blessing? Of course, it's a good thing to be angry when injustice occurs and your blood boils when an innocent person is victimized.

Then what about social media? What do you suppose I'd say? A blessing? A curse? Both? Maybe neither? I have an extremely bizarre—I dare say "abnormal"—answer to share.

We won't bore you with all the statistics and make this article boring.

The early 21st century saw the birth of social media. Exactly, toward the end of the 1990s. When viewed in the context of Sri Lanka, it rose to popularity in the previous 15 years. Since then, we have missed some of life's most priceless moments.

People do claim that it facilitates communication with individuals all over the world, informational progress, the ability to easily display one's talents, and a host of other benefits.

Let's first discuss life before social media before discussing its effects, when things were less complicated and simpler, when we had free time for our loved ones and friends. When we had time to play outdoors with neighbourhood kids, when we admired the natural beauty of the world unaltered by editing. When romance consisted solely of eye contact and love letters, when originality in creativity was valued and creators were admired.

I feel as though I would give anything to return to the era before social media. I'm not saying that social media are only a bad thing or that they have no positive aspects. It does have its advantages, but what good is connecting to the rest of the world if we can't even connect with those who are right in front of us?

I believe the advent of social media has resulted in the world becoming toxic and fake. For some reason I can't quite put my finger on it. People are also less creative in how they develop their personalities and style, and they heavily rely on pop culture and celebrities to tell them what kind of person they ought to be.

Additionally, it appears that social media are doing an excellent job of consuming all of our time and convincing people to believe what they want them to.

I'll reiterate that social media do have some advantages. But all I want is for it to be free of its curses. I won't be taken to a world without social media by calling it a curse, though. But it's enjoyable to picture a world without social media, when we would huddle up with our grandmothers to listen to their tales, when we would fly kites, and when problems like losing a charger or running out of data were not the most pressing issues. It is enjoyable to picture things as authentic, unique, and creative. But each of us has to deal with a completely different world. Let's handle it.

I should have been born in the 1880s, I know that.