Social Media Is My Woke Guru
Let’s eat, sleep, scroll, repeat
What we learn in school is quite restricted. Mostly the good bits of our society from the past and present are highlighted more. The other end to school education is that we are taught to simply hate certain events or communities without taking into the account how our own people participated in those events. It is either of these two cases.
For example, when India was under British rule, some Indians actively supported them while opposing the ones who were fighting to have freedom, But there is no mention of this in our textbooks. We can learn such facts only by reading articles or books. But what if you are not a reader? What if you like to read something only if they are presented attractively with some graphics?
Social media can be the answer to these questions. Though a lot of people argue that it is a waste of time to scroll through the timelines on these vicious circles, I think one can learn a lot if the right accounts and pages are followed. There are several activist accounts who amplify cases and events that we don’t get to see in everyday news. Some accounts even educate about our history and how it has been whitewashed. The few most popular and my favourites are Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Reddit.
I grew up to laugh about homophobic jokes and queer characters. I had internalized misogyny and casteism. I was the “boy’s girl” because I thought hanging out with guys is less drama as I used to think girls tend to exaggerate everything. The reality is boys are so dramatic, it is hard to identify because all of us tend to pose it under “boys will be boys”. Friendship with girls is far more fulfilling and uplifting.
Homophobia, casteism, sexism is taught by our society. It even gives you a pat when you make a display of those lessons. My eyes opened when I realized how toxic and privileged I have been and how it affects so many people in the world. I needed to change and help the ones who wanted to change too. But one of the biggest challenges a person has to face online are trolls and bullies. And if you are someone trying to do something good, people try their best to silence you.
Since being on the right side history is looked down upon somehow, we are yet to have real exclusive clubs at every place that will teach us how to be a better human. This is where social media clubs helped me. I am learning about the oppression of the marginalized communities, destruction of the environment and ways to make things right. It is far more than what my school and elders taught me. These badass online people have also taught me how to stand up for myself and get rid of toxic people.
All these lessons are taught by people who have either experienced them or have empathy towards others who did. They use engaging images or videos to educate about almost every relevant topic. I would not have known about genders, sexuality, races, etc otherwise. It is so easy to stay updated with the ongoing crucial events occurring in any part of the world.
Now it is just as possible to fall prey to fake news by certain people who only want peddle their own propaganda. Always follow accounts who back up their reports with verified links. Most of these accounts fact check and verify multiple times themselves before telling others. In case of any mistake, they even update and apologize.
Some of my favourite accounts on Instagram are Badass brown activist, Smash the patriarchy, Titty planet, Renaissance of the Bahujan, Notlolmen. Twitter accounts you should definitely follow are Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Saket Gokhale and Words are weapons. The list can go and on. All that I know and feel today is because of the activists on social media.
The kind of people and positivity you want might be hard to find sometimes. But you only see what you want on social media. So choose wisely. Stay wary of right-wing trolls and let’s smash the patriarchy! Who knows? We might actually get arrested for inciting change.
