Casual get-together VS social media: Do we have time for them all?

On the all-white armchair, I try to find the best position to relax. Vivian’s two-bedroom apartment has crowded-room aesthetics. Maybe we could sip this liquor, pretend like we’re in France — this Lo-fi song playing in the background hits the right notes to de-stress. ‘DHRUV is an artist’s name that drops most of the vowels, a name I wouldn’t recall in five minutes.

Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash

I imagine this evening to be a girls’ night in, where we chat about: the secret ingredient to Aglio e Olio pasta; sneaking a cat into a condo with a no-pet policy; a colleague who always takes an extra day off. But the conversation started with a loud voice breaking from her phone, saying something very loud that I can’t quite catch, to which my friend says: ‘I can’t believe a driver would cut in front of your motorbike like that.’ Frowns, eyes in disbelief as she reaches for her glass of Umeshu on the rocks. I tried to veer the topic to what should be; we move onto another matter that doesn’t matter.

My mum trusts anything her friends send her on Facebook. Years ago, she believed in a piece of fake news I wrote to test my theory — she was misinformed once again. There is still a chance to take back control of the narrative, easing a medicine of consciousness into minds like my mother’s.

The exploitation of social media sticks on us like melted cream candy and its plastic wrapper. As we try to find relevant content, another chaotic news item interrupts us; another hour has gone by. Excessive quantity of information constrains our thoughts. Yet, often, people seek to know.