Sometimes I wonder what is the secret of social media success? A faster way to gain audience or viewers. A highway to increased likes, more views and comments, and ultimately greater number of subscribers or followers?

No, secret of social media success is not just the quality content, that takes time. At least in India, it does.

According to the stats

• There were 687.6 million internet users in India in January 2020.
• The number of internet users in India increased by 128 million (+23%) between 2019 and 2020.
• Internet penetration in India stood at 50% in January 2020
• There were 400 million social media users in India in January 2020.
• The number of social media users in India increased by 130 million (+48%) between April 2019 and January 2020.
• Social media penetration in India stood at 29% in January 2020.

Median age of India is 27.1 years. Millennials (age 22-38yrs) and Gen Z (the newest generation, born after1997. They are currently between 6-24 years old) are the main contributors for social media usage in India. 52.3 % of social media results come from millennials. 28.4 % of social media conversations are from Gen Z and 15.1 % from those aged 35-44. 97 % of Indians who are connected to the internet watch videos online. Two-thirds of Internet users in India are in the age group of 12-29 years. (click here to know more).

People over the age of 40 formed the lowest share, while youngsters in the age group of 12 to 15 years made up a good 14% share of the total internet user base.(Click here to know more).

It is this young age group which is the issue. Because this is the most vulnerable age in which you can mould the minds of these youngsters, the way you like. That’s why education is no important for a nation. As proper education can turn them into leaders, and the lack of which can turn them into radicals or terrorists.

Here you need to differentiate between literacy and education. The youngsters lack proper education, because the issue is not about information, but about knowledge. Knowledge doesn’t come from only degrees or reading few books. But, when experience is added to knowledge, then comes maturity and that’s what they lack.

This where the problem lies. It is these youngsters who are being targeted to gain overnight popularity on social media platforms, by hook or by crook.

I am from a time, which has seen massive transition across the nation and the world. We were born in the age, when a television was considered a great luxury for the family, when you wrote letters to your family and friends, and when you had to stand in the STD queue, to call your family back. Back then, no one even in their wildest of dreams imagined what the world would be like in the 21^st century.

Back then no one even imagined that there would be something called as the internet. Or they would be able to hold a touchscreen device, through which they would be able to make an instant video call anywhere in the world. In fact, no one in the wildest of dreams imagined the life and technology we enjoy today.

Of course both the eras have their pros and cons. But back then there was one major difference in the lives of youngsters. It’s their role models. The people they idolized. Whatever field someone wanted to choose as their career, they had someone to look up to. It could be a great scientist, doctor, engineer, politician, singer, actor & actresses, designers, painters, authors, civil services officers, defence forces personnel, businessmen, industrialists, bankers etc.

These were those people, who had achieved greatness through sheer grit and dogged pursuit of excellence. Their lives were living examples of giving blood, sweat and tears. They didn’t waste time searching for secret of social media success. They were worth idolizing. They were the ones on whose footsteps you could walk and achieve greatness. They were the classic examples of what a nation’s citizens should be like.

Such people exist even now, and people still idolize them. But something has changed. Changed big time. The change has been drastic, and not at all for the good.

Is it the social media or internet? No, not at all. Internet has done more good than anything before. Social media has helped millions of people in countless ways to live a better and more prosperous life.

But this is only when you take social media as a platform of betterment and improvement. Improvement of your life, your career, your finances, business, education, knowledge or skills. But a greater number of people, specially youngsters aren’t using the internet for this purpose. In maximum cases these platforms are being used for purely entertainment.

Entertainment is never an issue. But only entertainment is. And entertainment at the cost of ruining your life and your career, is the issue I am addressing here. But when I talk about entertainment, it doesn’t mean you should stop watching movies, web series or stand-up comedians. But I am talking about cheap, vulgar and absolute rubbish in the name of entertainment.

Vulgarity and abusive language seems to be the secret of social media success. They are the new buzzwords by which we now define entertainment. The so called the new-age social media influencers who have absolutely no talent or skill, have found a fresh and overnight formula of instant fame on the internet. That is ‘filthy and abusive language’. The more you abuse, the higher the crowd engagement. Which means, more likes and followers.

Such videos are instant crowd pullers and they are shared like hot cakes on various social media platforms. People watch them, laugh at them senselessly, forgetting one simple fact. That their interest in such videos is making a celebrity out of a nobody. And they are nobody for some reason.

Because they have no creative or knowledgeable ideas or content. They want overnight fame. and they have the ready formula with them. It started openly with AIB (All India Bakchod) Knockout show, against whom multiple cases had to be filed to shut the show down.

It featured certain stand-up comedians and some dumb Bollywood actors and performers like Karan Johar, Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor etc. who crossed every limit of obscenity and vulgarity ever seen in the Indian television and film industry.

The show was full of open abuses, vulgar sexual positions being portrayed on stage, and every double meaning talk one could imagine. No one has an issue, if you use the same language in front of your family, or showcase the sex positions in front of your parents, in your own house. But this was all being done in open stage, in front of a crowd of 4000 people, and millions others watching them online.

The show was ultimately banned, and many senior actors from the Indian film industry, came out strongly opposing the show.

But the trend caught fire. People with zero talent now had a weapon to blow their way into instant popularity. People like Carry Minati, Hindustani Bhau, Rajveer Fitness and the likes of them, used this amazing, and actually the only talent of theirs to best use. Abuses, curses, roasting, insulting and repeat.

Making fun of someone, having a fight or a debate is no issue at all. You can commonly see the most heated debates on the news channels on various subjects. It may go out of hand once in a while, but in most cases, even in the most heated debates, the language is controlled to quite an extent.

But these people have gone a step too far. It’s hard to find one video of their, without an abuse, curse or an insult to someone. Some people called roasting as a form of comedy. Accepted. No issues, as I said. In making fun. But who the hell gave you the right to abuse someone in the name of roasting.

The abuse culture is flourishing, because they are being fed by money, fame, brand deals, and ads. So, why would anyone stop?

In fact, this culture is flourishing, as you really need nothing. No education, no morals, no ethics, no hard work, nothing. Just learn the amazing art of abusing and in no time you will have a big following. So what, if the following is illiterate and dumb. You still have following. That’s all what matters.

But the worst part is, there are douchebags defending such pathetic content.

• Can you tell me one single positive contribution of such people to the Indian society? No, it’s not entertainment. This is not entertainment. Legendary comedians like Kader Khan, Johnny Lever, Raju Srivastava, Kapil Sharma, and many others, made you laugh day in and day out. They had real talent. They didn’t take the support of abusive insults in the name of entertainment.

• Anyone who justifies this language in the name of chalta hai, or aajkal its common, please show these videos to your parents, and then tell me kitna chalta hai. If any single member of any family, says that such content is justified, then I am ready to publicly apologise and accept that I was wrong.

• Are these the future icons of the Indian society or youth? Are these the role models, whom the youngsters of this country will look up to? Are these the people who will represent the glorious Indian heritage on the world stage? If the answer to any of the question is yes, then the country’s future is in grave danger.

In our initial days of defence forces training, among the first lessons taught to us was respect for women and respect for the enemy. Women are given utmost respect in the forces to an extent, that when a lady arrives, even the chief of any of the 3 services, will stand and offer her a seat.

In the defence forces parties, it is the women who have the meals first, and having meals before every lady is done, or till she gives permission, is an offence.

Similarly, when it comes to the enemy, there is a difference in fighting the enemy and abusing them. We may fight the enemy to our best of capability. We may defeat them, but we still respect them. In Kargil operations, the Indian army, respectfully buried the dead enemy soldiers with full religious and military rights.

Let me give one advice to the youth of this country. Stop watching such people. This is not the secret of social media success. You are wasting your precious time and energy. You will achieve nothing in life, following such people and actually degrade yourself both psychologically and morally. They are the classic examples of what should not be a part of a cultured society.