Social media toxicity is a term that could very well become one of the highlights of 2020, for all the wrong reasons, of course. And what has been happening as of late is taking it to another level, it seems. The otherwise happy and fan-friendly content presented by celebrities has been replaced by their toxic exchanges, spewing hatred and anger.
The most recent example is the ongoing war of words between singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh and actor Kangana Ranaut. The first called one of his tweets about the ongoing farmer protests and wrote in Punjabi: “Hear this with evidence, Kangana. You shouldn’t be so blind … You’re saying just about anything. “Ranaut, in return, called it filmmaker Karan Johar’s ‘paltu’ (pet). What followed was a scathing exchange between the duo, with celebrities like the singers. Ammy Virk and Mika Singh in support of Dosanjh.
Are these exchanges leading to never-before-seen toxicity on social media? Filmmaker Hansal Mehta opines: “In any case, toxicity exists on social media. People like Kangana are adding it, that’s all. There are two types of people: one, a toxic person and the other who is trying to protect and defend himself or a whole community against these toxic (people). The problem is that unless these toxic celebrities don’t stop, this toxicity won’t end. ”
Some feel that such exchanges, even between the otherwise prim and proper celebrities, is understandable because they too are human beings and can only take in so much. Actor Taapsee Pannu says the toxicity never went away. “We saw the epitome of that during the confinement. I don’t know if anything can get worse, whatever we saw inside him, it was the lowest we had ever reached. At the end of the day, a celebrity is also a human being, we are not someone to put on a pedestal and worship, we are very regular human beings who have emotions. When (they hit us), we end up venting, ”says the 33-year-old, adding that everyone’s way of venting is ‘different’.
“When such exchanges happen, you can just review them and see for yourself who the real person is behind it … and see the more human side of celebrities when these things happen,” he tells us.
Many celebrities and social media users supported Dosanjh. Actor Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub, who is currently filming for a project with the singer, posted a photo with him on Twitter. He thinks it is a “very complicated subject”.
“It’s not just because celebrities are swapping, that’s why these things are happening, especially this episode. There was toxicity before that too, this was like a sigh that they exchanged a conversation. It wasn’t toxicity, what it did, it was more to slow down. That’s why she started saying what he did, the kind of things she (Kangana) said about the farmers’ protests, ”he says.
Producer Pritish Nandy doesn’t see why an argument should reach a level where “one side abuses the other or becomes aggressive.” He elaborates, “The side that is aggressive has already lost, it means that it has no case. Whoever has a case, argues, but whoever yells, screams and rants … has never been more evident than on social networks ”.
Doesn’t it get more alarming when celebrities do it, considering they influence millions? “I think this happens when people get to a stage where they feel like they have to go out and talk, or because things have gone wrong. Or when the government body tells people to speak up. These are two alternatives, ”says Nandy.
Interact with the author on Twitter / @ RishabhSuri02
Follow @htshowbiz On twitter
.
