Is Everything Online Just Noise?

 

​These days, you open a news channel or scroll through your feed, and you’re instantly flooded with the same thing: crime, politics, or celebrity gossip. It really feels like hate and sorrow are the only things that "sell" in this media world. And the sad part is, most people seem to love reading these stories more than anything else.

​We’re Trapped in "Doomscrolling"

​We’ve become so used to this endless "doomscrolling" that we just absorb all this gibberish without thinking. It’s information that has no use for us, yet so many people feel the need to jump in and engage.

​Think about it. One sad or sentimental picture pops up, and it gets thousands of comments full of "sympathy." But how many of those people would actually do something real to help? It feels like we’ve traded genuine action for a quick comment.

​And don't get me started on politics. Everyone is so quick to jump into the comments section to tear apart what a politician did or said. It’s easy to be a loud critic from behind a screen. But it’s much tougher to actually suggest a real solution or get off the couch and do something about it yourself.

​The Problem with "Performative" Charity

​I’ve even noticed a weird shift in how some NGOs work now because everyone is so obsessed with showing off. They’ve started this strategy where you can "sponsor a meal" for kids and get a video of them wishing you a happy birthday in return. You see these poor kids holding up a banner with your name on it, and it just feels… ridiculous. Why do we need to broadcast charity? Since when did helping someone become a photo-op for our own profiles?

​Now take the obsession with celebrity lives. People are losing their minds over Aamir Khan getting married to Gauri Spratt. You’ll see Facebook users debating, "How many times is he going to marry?" I think to myself: should he be asking for their permission? It’s his personal life, isn't it? We act like these stars are our next-door neighbors, analyzing their every move while ignoring our own growth.

​Or look at the recent, tragic headlines about Ketan Agarwal, who was pushed to his death from Lohagad Fort. Instead of focusing on the gravity of the crime, the internet turns it into a soap opera. People are obsessed with the details—how his fiancée, Siya Goyal, allegedly conspired with her lover, Chetan Chaudhary, and how they had reportedly even married each other secretly before the engagement. We treat these tragedies like they’re just another episode of a show we’re binging.

​The Death of Authenticity

​It’s not just the gossip, either. Look at how things have changed. Years ago, you’d see researchers putting in years of hard work for genuine medical or scientific discoveries. Now? It’s all just copy-paste and AI-generated illustrations. Even the pictures in your Instagram feed—you don't even know if they’re real anymore.

​Even professional platforms like LinkedIn have become a bit of a joke. It’s all about bragging about number of publications because getting "likes" matters so much more than actual professional networking. Everything is written in that typical, sterile AI style—perfect grammar, artificial sentences, and zero personality. It makes everyone sound exactly the same. Are people actually ashamed of being human?

​A Better Way to Scroll

​Why don’t we try to do something more productive? Instead of letting the algorithm feed us nonsense, we could try "selective filtering." Just skim past the junk. Focus on health, global news, or things that actually impact our day-to-day lives.

​And the "review" culture? It’s even leaking into real life. You go to a parlor for a haircut, and you’re practically forced to leave a Google review before you can even pay the bill. This is so common now that businesses are just creating fake reviews to look better.

​It makes you wonder: if everything online is curated, staged, or fake, why are we still so obsessed with it? Why don’t we let people decide for themselves if content is worth a look, rather than letting a "like" count tell us what’s important?

​Maybe it’s time to stop scrolling through the noise and start paying attention to things that actually matter.

​What do you think—have you ever felt like you're just "dumbscrolling" through life while real human connections are fading away?