How often have you come across posts on social media which says, “Share this if you are against rape or you are not my friend” or “You are not a fan if you don’t share this post”?
Social media has opened numerous possibilities for growth and exchange. But it also overburdens one to do something against their will. How can someone be less of a person if they do not share posts? Are the authors of those posts sensitive enough? Are they clout chasing by manipulating and guilt-tripping people’s emotions?
Pseudo-Activism
On sensitive issues like rape, homophobia or deaths, a simple resharing cannot help the process. These posts don’t even explain the matter at hand, but give a one-liner, “Share this or you are not a human”.
Rather descriptive neutral posts engage and create awareness amongst people for any issue. When people share these pseudo-liberal activism posts, most reshare these posts as a necessary aid to be part of society. They do not have a proper understanding of the problem. The fear of exclusion perpetuates this cycle of emotional exploitation.
The authors are also ignorant enough to think that people do not share because they are indifferent. But it is high time to think of the possibility that people might not feel comfortable resharing these posts. One cannot put shackles on the feet of the other to do something. For this, many other charitable or important posts get cornered.
Also Read: ResearchED: How Do Influencers And Social Media Make Us More Polarized?
Clout Chasing And Friendly Manipulations
We have to understand another aspect of these kinds of posts. Forced resharing of posts is one of the marketing initiatives for pages or individual authors to increase their reach. It increases their market value.
Beside’s sensitive topics, how many times have you been guilt-tripped by your acquaintances or friends to reshare business-oriented posts for sale or even told to buy? One can support another person’s business or any form of pursuit till it evades their emotional or materialistic boundary.
Anxiety and stress are created upon one when forced to do something against their will. In today’s age where healing mental health is advocated, doesn’t guilt-tripping a person to reshare posts make it contradictory?
How Shall One Respond?
Guilt-tripping is one of the core elements of gaslighting. Thus, it is necessary to deny this form of behaviour and help those around us who have inadvertently fallen into this cyclical trap.
Firstly, you should address the situation, is the post shared essential or not? Does it create any form of anxiety or denial on your part? Secondly, if you think this makes a difference, reshare it. Else you can directly talk to the author of the post or the person who has shared it. There might be even a possibility that they have also fallen into the cyclical trap.
Thirdly if you think that it might hamper your bond with the person in question, you have the option to ignore it for the time being. You can address the situation at your comfort later and even hear their perspective.
Don’t blame yourself if you are not resharing this kind of forced post, for the sake of validation. It might create a lot of dilemmas within you. Social media is very abstract and subjected to a superficial image that is not real. You can choose what aids your comfort and what does not.
Image Credits: Google Photos
Source: Author’s own opinion
Find The Blogger: @debanjalidas15
This post is tagged under: mental health, social media, guilt-tripping, gaslighting, anxiety, forced sharing, media marketing, Reshare, Meta, Twitter, mental health matter, awareness, trauma, well being, psychology, digital media, emotional manipulation
