Human beings tend to be better at invention than developing sustainable ways of making use of what they invent. Artificial intelligence inspired the dream of a computer imitating a human mind. In 1980 Steve Jobs described this as “a bicycle for our minds”. A few decades later, artificial intelligence is in the hands of profitable corporations. These corporations successfully feed addiction into an explosive confluence of social interactions and online media.

As the use of social media grows dense in Pakistan, its severity is now felt more acutely. Since its inception in 1992, the Internet has gathered several million devout users. The number is increasing exponentially with every passing year. With over 37 million users in Pakistan, social media serves as a major communication tool. Firstly, it helps augment news and stories that traditional media outlets may be reluctant or unwilling to publicise. Secondly, it serves to further the agendas of various campaigns, protests and social movements. In line with global and domestic trends – not to mention the rise in awareness amongst the general public – social media also promotes a humanitarian dimension with its advocacy for social causes. A society that once showed little support for pluralistic causes is more appreciative of tolerance today.

In the Covid-19 backdrop, we did not just witness a multiplication in social media connections but also a greater reliance on social media for work, academic, and entertainment purposes. Ahmed, a social media user from Karachi tells TNS, “It’s come to a point where I no longer take pictures for the sake of memories because the sole purpose of taking pictures now is to put them up on Instagram or Snapchat. The quality has to be and they have to be aesthetically pleasing. Admittedly, it’s not the healthiest way to live one’s life but that’s how it is now.”

In 2020, Facebook accounted for over 33 million users, Instagram 6.4 million users and Snapchat 4.4 million users in Pakistan.

In 2020, Facebook accounted for over 33 million users, Instagram 6.4 million users and Snapchat 4.4 million users in Pakistan. According to Statcounter’s analytics from December 2020, Facebook accounted for 85.89 percent use in Pakistan. This is followed by Twitter accounting for 10.46 percent, and YouTube at 1.46 percent. This growth has significantly influenced the youth’s involvement in social media. Hania, a young adult social media user, says, “I spend five to six hours a day on social media. It’s a very fragmented use. I access it on my phone, between study breaks. I mostly use Pinterest and Instagram to browse ideas related to my hobbies, like baking. I use Facebook to get updates on new games that are coming out and look at memes.”

Social media has changed the way people, especially the youth, spend their time. With their plethora of posts, tweets and retweets, memes, thumbnails, streaks and videos, applications like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, Twitter and Snapchat bring forth compulsive behavior in the youth. Social media applications and sites continue to improve their tools to give users the power to share their experiences. Under the label of “shared experiences”, users are motivated to understand what happens in their lives in terms of how others might view it.

Whenever something exciting or interesting happens, there is an urge to draw out our mobile phones, click a picture, and post it online. This is followed by an anxious wait for ‘likes’. What we might actually be feeling in that moment thus becomes less important.

Overall, outlooks and perceptions are increasingly being narrated by the reactions observed online rather than by way of actual reactions. For a large population, this has essentially become the new default mode.

The writer is a student at the National University of Sciences and Technology