It's no wonder netizens eagerly wait for new items to consume. The urge to be with the flow of events is powerful enough to drive our desire to check the pulse of devices. The newsfeed is updated every jiffy. The normalization of the attachment is the biggest stalemate. We love to be trapped in the digital labyrinth. We seek our freedom in the transported reality of edited posts. Netizens are always competing to be knowledgeable about the latest topic. They follow viral content, so they are not left out of the rollercoaster ride.
Mustard fields become a winter spectacle, attracting visitors eager to capture nature's golden beauty. City dwellers flock to these fields, hoping to immerse themselves in their vibrant charm. The mesmerizing yellow glow enchants all, drawing in nature lovers who long to bask in fresh air and open landscapes. These flowers create a captivating visual feast, transforming misty mornings into scenes of mystery and golden sunrises into breathtaking moments.
However, this seasonal fascination comes at a cost. Unruly tourists disrupt the tranquility of fields, trampling plants in their pursuit of perfect snapshots. Social media fuels this frenzy, where sharing scenic photos has become a measure of digital relevance. Despite acknowledging the need for responsible behavior, many fail to act accordingly.
For cultivators, mustard fields are not a romantic escape but a livelihood. Daily exposure numbs them to the beauty others admire. Instead, they struggle with an endless wave of visitors, powerless to protect their crops. Tourists, likened to relentless bees, leave behind damage and frustration.
Sunflower fields face a similar fate. Their golden vibrance attracts crowds, and access is even commercialized. In the digital era, nature's beauty is consumed, captured, and sold-feeding the longing hearts of virtual wanderers.
Screen time is intertwined with digital entertainment. From dawn to late at night people are exposed to radiation. Modern technologies make our lives excessively comfortable. Different diseases wait for their turn to show up in our bodies. Bodily inflammation has become our burdensome companion. We know about the consequences of spending time with the toxic pal, yet we jump into the vortex to have our daily dose of poison.
We are glued to the screen to foresee our downfall. The irresistible desire to check the latest uploads pushes our souls into the abyss of superlative addiction. People use smartphones while eating food as if it is incomplete without internet surfing. Some even go to the washroom with these story devices to experience continuous voyeurism of people's privacy. Social media overkill is now an integral part of modern life.
Netizen Republic declares membership for those chained to digital devices. The required anthem is a regular visit to social media platforms. The comments highlight the support and disagreements of the visitors who are virtually involved in sharing their thoughts on various issues.
Urban space does not provide any option to wander the natural wilderness. Mistakes are repeated to feel the brunt of technological dysentery. Content creators target viral dissemination. In recent times, Ek cup cha banai shamir jonno, or a song on Pinaki and Ilias highlights this penchant. The recipe for viral content is a song with funny lyrics to entertain the netizens. Recently a watermelon seller has become very viral through his funny lines. Whenever he cuts open a watermelon, seeing the red colour of the slice shouts Oi kire! (hey buddies) and affirms that it would taste like honey and roshmalai. But this watermelon seller is in trouble due to his viral dialogues and cannot sell his products because of being surrounded by Youtubers and other social media hunters.
Sharing is the code of rehearsing netizenship in the virtual space. The death of a child rape victim sparked agitation among the denizens of social media. Social media is faster than television media in updating news lovers. Television channels are losing viewership due to the intrusion of excessive advertisements and censorship whereas social media videos have very few disturbances by commercials. These days, social media contents are considered to be more authentic and entertaining than television programs.
Smartphone cameras are the new weapons for bringing realities to the fingertips of device users. Various social media pages unlock the geographical and cultural situations before human browsers. We come to know about the struggling life of Bangladeshi labourers in foreign lands. The epicentre of Islam is reproduced in the imagination of the followers through a series of video images. The snow-covered landscapes tell stories of cold harmony in distant places. History pages inform us about recent discoveries of human civilizations. The virtual journey continues simultaneously with the offline events until they become part of our digital memory base.
The writer is an anthropologist and a faculty member at the Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB)
