I remember a simpler time, a time when people were kinder to each other (at least to each other’s faces), a time when people didn’t flaunt their own bitterness, envy or cruelty for all the world to see. The internet, however, seems to have given a whole new meaning to the phrase “It’s a jungle out there” and even social media apps are sitting up and paying attention.

In June, Twitter announced it would be rolling out a new notice regulating tweets belonging to public figures that break its community guidelines. Instagram too will be taking steps to limit the amount of trolling that now happens constantly on its platform. It seems that everywhere you look, steps are being taken to basically prevent people from spouting abuse and masquerading it as freedom as speech.

Just a few weeks ago, megastar beauty blogger Jaclyn Hill had to disconnect all her social media channels after the unabating backlash she received over the release of her first make-up line. To look at the comments, one would think she had slaughtered a school bus of children instead of making a couple of poor business decisions which she went out of her way to refund people for. Not only was the reaction disproportionate, but it also bordered on the scary. Closer to home, we are far from better.

The internet has become a modern-day pillory where people can throw their rotten fruits of abuse

With every new article which comes up about a local celebrity, influencer or model (most of which the person in question would not even know are being written), the vitriol just pours in. The internet has become a modern-day pillory where people can throw their rotten fruits of abuse, only in this case, the victims are rarely guilty of any but the smallest misdemeanour, if any at all.

On top of that, it makes no logical sense for online trolls to claim they don’t care about the victim in question while simultaneously lavishing abuse upon the thing they supposedly don’t care about. Who does that? It’s like saying that you’re not interested in attending a party and then showing up in a couture ballgown with a bottle of champagne in each hand.

When people really don’t care about something, they simply scroll further down their social media feed and find something else to waste their time on. Commenting about something to say you don’t care simply means that you care a lot more than you probably should, inevitably making the person in question a scapegoat for your insecurity du jour.

Attempting (and failing) to dim someone’s light won’t make yours shine any brighter. It’s terribly hot outside; you might want to save your energy and use it towards something more constructive, say, enriching yourself.