Social media is toxic because the world has become toxic: Richa Chadha

The actor made her Twitter account private as she realised she spent nine hours in a week on it.

Social media is fun but it’s also time consuming, which is what actor Richa Chadha felt and a few days ago, she made her Twitter account private. “I realised I spent nine hours in a week on the platform. I have several things to complete and I can’t meet any deadlines with this waste of life on social media. I haven’t vacated my space, but just made the account private to limit engagement, because I have to finish a book I started writing,” says the Section 375: Marzi Ya Jabardasti (2019) actor.

Richa is thankful that she isn’t addicted to social media. She admits she has had her fair share of positive interactions on the platform as well.

There’s been a lot of talk about social media toxicity affecting one’s mental well being. Of late, Bollywood celebs, including Sonakshi Sinha, Aayush Sharma and Saqib Saleem quit Twitter due to the negativity on the platform. The incessant trolling, threats, and pressure to say the right things at the right time definitely takes an emotional toll. While Chadha doesn’t take social media too seriously, and says “it’s a medley and battle of bits, bytes and bots based on algorithms and can’t replace human interaction”. She adds, “The platform is toxic because the world has become toxic. People take advantage of anonymity to find relevance and vent. This is the behaviour of cowards and mustn’t be taken seriously.”

Sure there’s negativity on social media, and there are advantages as well. Many enjoy a social detox for a bit before returning to it. Chadha is thankful that she isn’t addicted to social media. She admits she has had her fair share of positive interactions on the platform as well. “It works both ways. As an artist, you are pleasantly surprised to find fans in Norway and Turkey, thanks to social media. You may not get to know how loved you are either, if you aren’t online, in certain cases. I love social media, but like everything else in life, it has its demons,” she signs off.