Ananya Panday Announced Her Digital Social Responsibility Initiative With A Video And We Think She Has A Point

I am not saying I am addicted to social media, just that I don’t know what to do if they are down. Like, am I supposed to hang out with my own thoughts (gasp!), or like actually call people and have a conversation as opposed to sending them emojis? And I am not saying this because it is literally my bread and butter as a lifestyle writer, but also because isn’t it what we millennials feed off of? How else are we supposed to be in the know of anything and everything if it isn’t for twitter, or Instagram or Facebook? But like every story, there are two sides to being on social media too. And often, celebrities get the worst end of the deal. And while most of them are quiet, Ananya Panday has decided to take this head on.

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The actress chose Sunday, which was #WorldSocialMediaDay, to announce her new Digital Social Responsibility (DSR) initiative against online bullying by way of an IGTV video that she released as part of a ‘So Positive’ campaign where she head on addressed all the trolling she had been subject to over the course of past few months, which intensified in the months leading up to the release of  Student Of The Year 2.

Now, while we too have taken digs at the actress ‘professionally’, we don’t feel it is healthy to take after any actor for that matter, for personal reasons. She may not have delivered well on her performance and yes we find it odd that she’s earning endorsements and magazine covers, clearly the nepotism is alive and thinking, but after having watched the video, we are compelled to think it’s got to be tough, surely she doesn’t deserve all that social media hate? After all, she has more to her than her role in SOTY 2. She is the same girl who has given millennials fashion inspiration and made savvy statements about young girls to not feel any pressure to do what they love.

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In her video, she talks about urging people to stop creating an environment of hatred on social media platforms for anyone. She starts the video by saying, “They wrote you are too thin… You have no talent and you are too tall. They wrote you are flying on your father’s money… You are a product of nepotism. They wrote you need implants… They call me overacting ki dukan and a fashion disaster. They wrote about my mom, my dad and even about my younger sister and my friends. They accused me of being a liar….Just for a moment, I contemplated about who they are… They are nothing just faceless, unidentified and unverified newly created social media accounts… Social media bullies and I thought why me? Why would someone who does not even know me pass such nasty personal remarks? In the end, I realised its not me… It’s not only me.”

And we agree. Regardless of being in the public eye, social media harassment has become a matter of concern, as people feel entitled to pass lewd and sometimes abusive remarks, hiding behind their veil of anonymity. She continued to say, “Our generation is prone to insensitive remarks. I wonder why civil conduct followed in real life is not followed on social media… Why make social media a dumping ground of so much hate. Why be so negative? Why not just be positive?”

Guess, the actress has made up for all those lost brownie points by highlighting an issue that goes beyond just appearances. And we do support her in this initiative to be oh so positive!