Most of us assume that the social media reach of actors just helps them to promote their work and bring them closer to their fans. But like everything else associated with fame, social media popularity has a flip side to it too. While celebrities do enjoy the likes and positive comments of their followers, they however are unable to escape the negativity directed at them. This often manifests itself in the form of online bullying and sometimes in critical cases, even threats of physical harm.
A lot of celebrities have spoken up about this side of show business and how they find being a public figure draining and toxic to their mental health. One of the recent celebrities to speak on cyberbullying is 20-year-old Ananya Panday, who made her debut with Student of the Year 2. While the film brought her appreciation, it also brought with itself a big share of online harassment. Thus, Ananya is now using her social media reach to spread awareness on how cyberbullying is a grave issue in our country and we must take notice of it.
Launching So+
Panday launched her first digital social responsibility initiative, #SoPositive on World Social Media Day. The initiative aims to build a community to create maximum awareness regarding social media bullying. "A part of growing up is taking responsibility and as a woke millennial I, Ananya Panday introduce you all to my Digital Social Responsibility initiative 'So+'," she captioned the video in which she is seen talking about her personal struggles with social media bullying.
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"They wrote you are too thin, You have no talent and you are too tall. (They wrote) You are flying on your father's money, (You) are a product of nepotism. They wrote 'you need implants'. (They) call me 'overacting ki dukan' and a fashion disaster. They wrote about my mom, my dad and even about my younger sister and my friends, (They) accused me of being a liar.
"...Just for a moment, I contemplated about who they are. They are nothing, just faceless, unidentified and unverified newly created social media accounts. Social media bullies and I thought, why me? Why would someone who does not even know me pass such nasty personal remarks? In the end, I realised it's not me. It's not only me," Ananya said in the video.
Ananya further added that the civil conduct of real life is equally important to follow online. "Our generation is prone to insensitive remarks. I wonder why civil conduct followed in real life is not followed on social media. Why make social media a dumping ground of so much hate, (Why) be so negative? (Why) not just be positive?"
Read Also: Young Women Standing Up Against Cyber Bullying
Snigdha Gupta is an intern with SheThePeople.Tv
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