‘Keep calm, let me first record my Insta story’ — Well, this seems to be the slogan of a major chunk of today’s Gen-Y, who believe in taking the idea of ‘being connected’ to an newer level. The crazy trend of recording some really inane occurrences is gaining momentum, often blurring the lines between ‘Oh-that’s-sweet’ to borderline spam. Clearly, the fear of missing out has caught up among many youngsters, hence bringing us to a rather interesting question: How much is too much? From bizarre and downright daft videos to pointers to consider, young Bengalureans sage interesting advice to be social media-smart...
“I’ve had guys posting nudes on it, pictures of random things like cows getting wet in the rain,” begins Nithya J Rao, a city-based actor and psychologist. Enthusing how the adaptation actually makes little sense if you aren’t selling or making a point, Rao adds, “The one set of people I think benefit the most, are small brands. They can put disappearing offers, discounts etc, and let the engagement grow with customers continually checking. But unfortunately, I’ve seen a misuse of the feature resulting in too many awkward stories — nobody wants to know if you’re getting a hair wash at a parlour, zooming in on someone you think looked funny from a balcony view — stuff that’s downright bizarre.
Wonder why someone would watch your story. Unless it’s a one step call to action or a discount offer, don’t put it up.” For Anjalli Sukumaran, an entrepreneur and blogger with over 34k followers, the idea of putting up mundane posts for the sake of it is what irks her. “A lot of people are under the assumption that a mere number of follower-ship is directly proportional to how impactful you are on social media. I know people with an odd number of followers who put up bizarre videos or are plain annoying dubsmashes on an everyday basis. I understand some people get paid to do it. But if your only intent is to amass strangers looking at your stories, you should stop right away. And don’t state the obvious. Unless your videos have something different to offer, I don’t see the essence behind it all.”
Vouching by similar lines, Rajat Bongale, a radio professional hints how a continual record of random videos spell absolute disaster, “It’s always a good idea to restrict your stories to max four or five. Anything more is truly uncalled for, unless you are fund raising. It’s ridiculous when people have 30-40 stories on a daily basis. Recording every bit of your life is addictive but has weird consequences. When you let such minute details out in the open, strangers are privy about your inside personal life — and that leaves you with no room to complain about people being intrusive or even online stalking. Draw a demarcation between what you are okay with anyone knowing and what you aren’t comfortable with people discussing. Also, if something is on your timeline or profile, it makes absolutely no sense to put the same as a story. Pushy marketing is a BIG NO-NO. So, stay away from daft gimmicks when online.”
