POSTING a photo of you having a cup of thirteen-ringgit Latte doesn’t really say about your standard of living or won’t fix an undebatable fact that you’re genuinely a coffee lover.

Having a cup of brewed coffee isn’t a lifestyle that one should be boasting on Instagram as it’s just, to true coffee lovers like me, an ordinary routine that should not be seen as a ‘grand lifestyle’ as if having a cup of Espresso depicts one’s monthly earning.

Undeniably, social media platforms like Instagram have been popularly used by hundreds of millions of human beings to share what they have in life in a motive of visibly telling their stalkers, secret admirers, old-fake friends, haters, former husbands and automatedly-existed followers that they can also do what others do.

Believe it or not, that has become a societal problem that is hiddenly suffered by many of you and people you befriend with.

When many money-making corporations race to competitively amass more and more profits to stay longer in businesses they do despite enslaving cheap manpower, there are people, whose hands glued on devices they call “smart”, competing to be ‘saluted’ and ‘hailed’ for things they unoriginally act on the social media.

It’s, at least to me, inhumane to be judged or to judge by what we and others post on social media as it has secretly been tooled to fabricate truths in reality.

Faking a love relationship on social media could be a trend today as being labelled “single and loser” by friends who are also followers is painful as being called “corrupt”.

Psychologically, what we portray on social media could reflect people’s perceptions towards us because people mainly judge from what they see with their pairs of eyes.

Like giving a random impression to a man in suit and a man in round-neck shirt and shorts you see at a restaurant, who would you think to have a decently-paid job with a car driven by a hired driver?

That’s why politicians like to publish their photos of them meeting with their constituents in a hope of garnering positive public reactions that they are “loved by their voters”, but in reality, those whom they met were actually paid to pose as directed by the photographer.

Same goes to ordinary people like you, two cups of hipster-coffee place Latte and a googled English caption are what you need for an Instagram photo to notify your 500 followers of your ‘new relationship’ with a ‘mysterious lady’ you recently knew, without they know the real fact that you really hate brewed coffees that they taste more bitter than being rejected by every girl you meet and try.

Judging one’s life on social media is like trusting what an electoral candidate says in his political speeches days before the election kicks off— it can’t possibly be... right.

“Being judgemental without needing true realities” is actually a rule set by the social media creators to you, the allegiant users, whose minds can be easily manipulatively swayed by fabricated acts shown in the social media.

When you see someone’s Instagram photo of him shaking his hands with a prominent politician with a caption, “Had a discussion with YB blabla on my next project,” you would react and say, “Wah, steady man can meet with YB. Surely got cables to get jobs woo,” in the comment space without knowing the fact that the former has no ideas about politics, and only takes photos with any prominent figures he bumps into.

Oh yea, not to forget the stupid people who willing to tweet a very long thread of elaborative criticisms on a controversial news headline they didn’t ever happen to click on its full article.


* Amerul Azry Abdul Aziz is an independent writer who now views politics as something that can be researched.

** The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of Astro AWANI.