Social media platforms have enabled us to pass our messages and opinions nationwide and worldwide. People from diverse professions post updates about their personal lives, travelling stories, cooking videos, vlogs, etc. It is often seen that a group of people freely give their opinions in the comment box of actors, actresses, celebrities, players, and influencers without any personal involvement. The comment section of such famous people keeps getting flooded with both positive and negative reviews.
Starting from actors Chanchal Chowdhury, Shakib Khan, Ananta Jalil, Arifin Shuvo, all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, singer Arnob, actresses Suborna Mostafa, Bipasha Hayat, Jaya Ahsan, Rafiath Rashid Mithila, Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Tanjin Tisha, Azmeri Haque Badhon, Nazifa Tushi, to Salman Muqtadir, Zefer, and Sabila Noor, all of the celebs are receiving tons of messages on the comment box from their fans which proves both acceptance from their audience and disapproval as well.
Recently, Shakib Al Hasan donated Tk 20,000 via The Mastul Foundation for one day's iftar to the victims of the Bangabazar fire tragedy and nominated Taskin Ahmed to do the same for the next day to continue the cycle. However, his donation post received immense backlash on social media, and people reacted sarcastically.
Even one of the victims of the fire tragedy said that he would return the donation doubling the amount of money. Can we take a moment and think about what Shakib Al Hasan, as a player, did wrong in this scenario to receive such disrespect? What could he have done instead?
Donation is something one gives away as a noble act. Hence, the amount solely depends on the giver to donate whatever amount they can. The thinking procedure of social media users of Bangladesh is questionable right here.
Actress Rafiath Rashid Mithila has constantly been facing counteraction ever since her divorce in 2017. Anything that Mithila posts on her personal or professional social platforms, be it spending quality time with her family, attending social events, signing up for films, teasers of her new films or receiving prizes for her work, a group of people never miss the chance to go and leave disrespectful comments on her posts. She's a mother, actor, development worker, and writer, pursuing PhD degree as well.
Nonetheless, she always receives criticism on her social media handles despite her work and achievements. We all have ups and downs in our personal lives; we also break relationships and move on with our lives. However, to what extent is it rational to judge someone based on their personal lives?
Social media policing didn't leave national award winner Azmeri Haque Badhon. She shared a post with her quote about how women are unsafe in Bangladesh and received personal attacking comments; for instance, how women's appearance and dress-ups are responsible for such dangers, which is largely irrational. People are praising Badhon for her achievements and for representing Bangladesh on international platforms, but she frequently receives such counterblasts on her social media handles. Can an actress not express her opinions according to her will?
Singer Xefer and YouTuber Salman Muqtadir face the same difficulties on social media. Though Xefer's latest work, 'Jhumka,' was a success, she received backlash about her appearance on her social media channels. We often forget that commenting on someone's personal preference on a public platform is gross and disrespectful.
Evergreen beauty Jaya Ahsan is loved by all. However, she has been receiving inappropriate utterances in her recent photoshoot with Swastika Mukherjee. Both senior and junior artists are supposed to receive admiration or constructive criticism based on their works rather than comments about their looks, dressings, or personal lives. Be it artists or non-artists, a group of people is always making statements or personally attacking atypical people.
Social media has clearly empowered people. Those who used to be listeners once but are now able to speak and are getting an audience also that is theoretically global.
Since one's voice can now reach a far wider audience, it inherently demands being more responsible in communication. Because everyone we may judge is facing a different reality than we are experiencing. We should never indulge in talking about people's lives based on our own philosophy and belief just because we have the technology to comment.
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