UP votes and down votes - The likes and dislikes in our lives

Like me, many love to and like to try different things to expand the knowledge that might help in future. I love to watch any type of dance and listen to soothing voice of Mukesh. I like to watch black and white movies of Dev Anand, Madhubala from Bollywood and black and white movies of Mahanati Savitri, Akkineni Nageswara Rao and NT Rama Rao from Tollywood. I love talking to friends. I can be a friend to a person whose face I haven't seen and still be friends with. I don't like people being criticized or people finding fault with others as if they are the perfectionists. I hate failure which most of us do knowing fully well that it's part of life and growing up process. It's a must in life to present a better version of yourself. I dislike artificiality, hypocrisy and escapism. I hate people changing colours like the chameleon. It's my life and my likes, so could be with others. But we are all invaded by the social media. Most of us enjoy the invasion. FB likes are like units of validation. The 'Like' button is a popular feature and most used button. On all these platforms the thumbs up or heart button, feature, allows social media users to show their support, interest or appreciation for posts. It's a form of social currency. Every time like counter goes up our brains pour out a few droplets of dopamine, a chemical made by our body. We feel elated and rewarded for our effort. Your adrenalin level is pushed up. The more likes the richer you are, thumbs down you are poorer in the social currency, that may lead to anxiety and low self-esteem. Likes on social media are a form of communication that permits us to give its validity with a single click, needless to type anything. It looks like a simple feature, but actually one of the most powerful and reachable on- line tools ever created. Within a short span of time the like button became a phenomenon. It gave the users power to express their opinion. At the same time when you posted something and there was no response and no feed back to your post you feel that dislikes were better than being ignored. At least your content was being read and you were in circulation and you were not a victim of social exclusion.

By scrolling the pictures posted and giving our comments or thumbs up we assume we have achieved something great and running the entire universe. A false picture of perfection has become our conversation. Social media has given the idea that we should all have a group of friends but in reality, they are all fair- weather friends. Their friendship is limited to two- line tweets. In reality if we have one or two good friends, we are lucky and blessed.

The development of entertainment has gone from theatre to movies to television to social media platform. There is no creativity, we have become like zombies, waiting to collect likes and hearts. There is no privacy left. Everything is on display. We present a version of ourselves to the world that we want others to believe we are a symbol of 'perfection'. Every thought we have, every meal we eat, every moment spent, is worth publishing for all to see. Don't use social media to impress people; use it to impact people.

It's time we share our experiences on the telephone or on a cell phone, or have a cool conversation in our drawing rooms. It's time to pull back on the sharing and do more actual living.